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Forced labor in Brazil: BYD is criticized as an electric car giant!
The construction site of the electric car manufacturer BYD in Brazil has been criticized for “forced labor” and catastrophic conditions.
Forced labor in Brazil: BYD is criticized as an electric car giant!
The construction site of the Chinese electric car company BYD in the state of Bahia, Brazil, has been criticized because of serious allegations. There were reportedly indications of “forced labor” and inhumane conditions in which workers lived and worked. Over 160 workers at Jinjiang Construction Brazil were found living in alarming sanitary conditions described by Brazilian prosecutors as “slavery-like.”
The workers lived in “degrading” accommodation that lacked basic amenities. 31 workers had to share one bathroom, while eight toilets without water or toilet paper were available for 600 workers. Their passports and wages were withheld by the construction company, further aggravating the situation. Workers who terminated their employment only received 60 percent of their wages, while they had to pay for their own return flights. The Brazilian public has been alarmed by these “shocking” conditions, which the MPT (Public Labor Prosecutor’s Office) has classified as “alarming” and “precarious.”
Measures against BYD
In view of the massive allegations, BYD has terminated the contract with the subcontractor Jinjiang Construction Brazil and accommodated the affected workers in hotels. The company emphasizes that it wants to comply with Brazilian laws and has already reacted before the official notification on December 23rd. BYD is considering further measures to improve working conditions and has announced that it will carry out a comprehensive review of conditions for subcontractors.
The planned factory in Camaçari, which was scheduled to be operational by March 2025, would have been BYD's first EV plant outside of Asia. Brazil is a strategically important market for BYD, which is one of the largest electric vehicle manufacturers in the world. According to reports from Heidelberg24 and BBC The current incidents were classified as “forced labor” because many workers did not receive wages and had to bear high costs when their contracts were terminated.
The Chinese brand has quickly established itself in Brazil in recent years and is pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy. In 2015, BYD opened a factory in São Paulo to produce chassis for electric buses and recently announced an investment of 3 billion reais (about $484.2 million) to build an EV factory. At the same time, however, the company also faces challenges as it faces negative reports about working conditions while competition in the US and EU is limited by tariffs on electric vehicles from China.