Volkswagen do Brasil walked away from the negotiating table in a hearing over possible slave labor at a subsidiary’s Amazon farm in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Brazilian prosecutors. The company said it was not interested in signing an agreement with the prosecuting authority responsible for labor law, the authority said in a statement. Such an agreement corresponds to Germany such as a pre-trial agreement.
Prosecutors deplored Volkswagen’s stance, which contradicted the company’s commitment to the country and human rights. She announced that she would take all judicial and extrajudicial measures necessary for effective reparation of the damage allegedly caused by the company.
Volkswagen rejects all allegations
“Volkswagen do Brasil rejects all allegations contained in the logs of this investigation into Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino and does not agree with the one-sided representations of facts made by third parties,” a Volkswagen do Brasil spokesman said on request. The Brazilian public prosecutor only informed the company three years after the investigations began.
The Brazilian public prosecutor summoned VW do Brasil in May 2022. The hearing in June 2022 also discussed possible compensation for the workers on the farm and for Brazilian society. It is about a very serious violation of human rights, which took place for more than ten years with the direct involvement of Volkswagen, according to the statement by the public prosecutor.
Prosecutor Rafael Garcia Rodrigues had spoken of inhospitable accommodation on the farm known as “Fazenda Volkswagen” in Santana do Araguaia in the state of Pará. In addition, the workers could not have left the farm. The workers and Brazilian society itself deserve more respectful treatment and compensation for the damage caused, according to investigating prosecutors.
The prosecution’s proposal included compensation for identified workers who were allegedly injured, and a program to search for other workers who were also treated in the same way on the farm.
According to Garcia Rodrigues, the “Fazenda Volkswagen” was one of the largest companies in the rural Amazon region, and the car company wanted to get into the meat business at the time. It was founded in the 1970s and supported by the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985). The farm was around 1390 square kilometers and had around 300 workers.
The temporary workers responsible for the clearing, to whom the allegation of slave labor primarily relates, were not employed directly by the VW subsidiary. According to the public prosecutor, compensation is necessary because the undertaking could have counted on public funds and tax breaks.