Danone and Nestle use slave labor to sell nearly matured yogurt



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The story of Murilo, who requested anonymity, was discovered by the tax inspectors of the Ministry of Labor during inspections that took place between March and July 2018 at the same time. 39, interior of São Paulo. Silva, who had brought the inhabitants of Ceará inside with false promises of yoghurt sellers, was arrested in April by the Sorocaba federal police, accused of "trafficking people for the purpose of working in conditions badogous to slavery ".

Danone e Nestlé was jointly responsible for the practice of forced labor for failing to monitor their distributor chains and had to pay a portion of the severance pay of rescued persons – Danone paid R $ 185,000 and R $ 139,000, according to the auditors' report. "It was a deliberate blindness.The companies took advantage of this fraudulent scheme and were accomplices," said the auditor of Renato Bignami, who participated in the inspections.

The economic stratagem that has sucked Murilo and attracts so many street vendors is moving thousands of reais and tons of valuable products, at affordable prices for clbades D and E. It is called "credit" because it works with credit sales to the end buyer and has a complex network of distributors and sub-distributors on the outskirts of major cities and the interior Ministry of Labor survey, conducted in partnership with the federal police, revealed that for Danone and Nestle, the virtual loss of these products accounted for about 2% of profits of Brazilian companies.

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A sales program generates products close to maturity for clbades D and E.

Photo: Fernando Martinho / Repórter Brasil

Dairy Partners Americas Brazil, In a statement, he declared that he was terminating the commercial relationship with the microdispenser informed by the tax auditors in July 2018 when he had become aware of the irregularities. The company also stated that it did not tolerate "human rights and labor rights violations".

Danone Brasil has already indicated that it "repudiates any form of work that contravenes labor law" and has no business relationship evaluated with the microentrepreneur because "Acquires the products through its casual customers. " Danone reiterates its commitment to the legislation in force and reinforces its commitment to prevent and combat forced labor in its extensive production chain, "said the company.

" I sold 500 $ 000 and I won a danone "

At the door, street vendors offered yogurt kits with 33 units priced at $ 40 – or $ 1.21 per pack. the unit can cost $ 2. The minimum day of work was 14 hours a day, plus the two hours spent traveling.This began at seven am Under an intense sun or a storm, they pushed yogurts in the mountainous streets of the suburbs and often risked their lives by pbading armed traffickers.Murilo sold more than 70 kits per day, equivalent to $ 50,000 a month.

If the sellers de Silva needed money in case of emergency – pa r example when Murilo's son was suffering from severe stomatitis – the lender would lend, but billed in duplicate. If they were sick, they would be deducted from their $ 100 salary. With so many discounts, he had a month that Murilo did not even receive. He had to go into debt with the boss to buy food for his family. "I've sold over $ 500,000 in a year, I was the goose that had the eggs of gold, and you know what I've got?" A package of danone for my son. " he laments.

"I've sold more than 500,000 rand in one year.And you know what I've got?" A package of danone for my son. "

In housing that Silva rented for the workers, there was a tick infestation, the workers gathered in a cozy two-room house without bedding, towels and food, the degrading conditions and the exhaustive days endangering the safety, health and the life of the workers characterizes work similar to that of slave, in accordance with article 149 of the Penal Code.

Among the products sold by the itinerant traders of Silva, 40% came from Danone and 30% The company's trucks dumped tons of yoghurt directly into the microliter's hangars and Joseilton Ferreira, one of these micro-distributors, was purchased from Danone and pbaded on to creditors, such as Silva. and November 2018, Ferreira was changed yoghurt for R $ 1.8 million, close to the expiry date of the mark. Nestlé yogurts arrived through Baturitense Comércio de Alimentos company. From October to March, the joint venture Dairy Partners America, related to Nestle, reported to Baturitense worth R $ 145,000 – the equivalent of 26 tons of yogurt.

The sale of products, particularly attractive to children, was a spinning mill. The seller therefore had a paper for each customer, where he noted the purchases and payments to be made. Sales above $ 50 were not prohibited, but if the customer did not pay, the seller was forced to bear the burden and then deducted from the salary.

Each vendor was carrying more than 100 kilos of food each day in polystyrene foam.

Photo: National Fire Program. to Slave Labor

Unattended distribution chain

Microdispensers that received tons of yogurt directly from companies and which provided credit centers like Silva's belonged to the sales department of the company, alongside major distributors . Danone and Nestlé both created a new nomenclature for this group. At Danone, "customer-consumer" or "spot". At Nestlé, balance of payments customers, "pyramid" corruption

In practice, according to prosecutors, multinationals have not monitored microdistributors and therefore have not adopted fundamental rights protection mechanisms. The conduct and the omission of companies, even involuntary, have aggravated the risk of exploitation of the work force. "These failures certainly contributed to the occurrence of the violations," said Bignami.

It is not possible to date when this characterization took place, but the survey of the auditors revealed that almost two decades. The audit continues to investigate other creditors.

  São Paulo, Brazil 19-12-2018 Nestlé and Danone involved in the case of forced labor. Photos: Fernando Martinho

Due to discounts, Murilo did not receive the promised salary during the first month. In addition to violating international human rights agreements and the fact that Brazil is a signatory, Danone and Nestlé have also violated the global agreements reached by their respective headquarters in Europe – France and the United States. Switzerland, respectively.

Fernando Martinho

. "Abroad, there will be a big impact on reputation, which can affect corporate operations, and public measures should be taken," said Tamara Hojaij, a researcher at the Center for Human Rights and Human Rights. companies of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation.

With the closing of the crediário, Murilo saw nozzles. Without a high school diploma, no one wants to use it. "When I'm not working, I keep thinking, and if my son asks for a bread to eat, what should I tell him?" I was very hungry for Ceará. I did not want my children to suffer the same thing. "

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