Exclusive: Chinese workers in BYD Brazil factory signed contracts with abusive clauses, investigators say
> BYD contractor Jinjiang imposed restrictive labor conditions on Chinese workers> BYD denies knowledge of labor violations, claims unawareness until media reports> BYD and Jinjiang face charges for obstructing Brazilian labor investigation
>The Chinese workers hired by BYD contractor Jinjiang in Brazil had to hand over their passports to their new employer, let most of their wages be sent directly to China, and fork over an almost $900 deposit that they could only get back after six months' work>The three-page document, signed by one of 163 workers who labor inspectors said were freed from "slavery-like conditions" last month, includes clauses that violate labor laws in both Brazil and China>Many of the clauses "are textbook 'red flags' of forced labor," said Aaron Halegua, a lawyer and fellow at New York University Law School, who won compensation for Chinese workers who sued their employers for forced labor in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory.>Baldy and BYD Brasil President Tyler Li then met on Dec. 2 with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. They told Lula at the time that BYD was addressing the issue, according to two people familiar with the conversation.>Lula's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.>Two weeks later, a raid by labor inspectors found the laborers living crammed in lodgings without mattresses. Thirty-one workers were crammed in a single house with only one bathroom and food piled up on the ground alongside personal belongings, in what inspectors said were "degrading conditions.">Baldy denied discussing the matter with Lula in their meeting and said the company had no knowledge of the Jinjiang labor contract. BYD is taking action to make sure "this situation never happens again," he told Reuters. After the raid, BYD ended its contract with Jinjiang.https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinese-workers-byd-brazil-factory-signed-contracts-with-abusive-clauses-2025-01-31/Couldn't find a existing thread