The mandate of the PSOL Feminist Group in the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (Alesp) filed lawsuits against the government of the state of São Paulo and the city hall of the city of São Paulo. The objective of the actions is to question food supply contracts with companies suspected of using workers in conditions analogous to slavery.
The action against the government was filed on Thursday afternoon (16) at the Public Finance Court of the Central Forum of São Paulo, while the one involving the city hall was handed over on March 2. According to the lawsuit, the state government signed a contract worth R$ 17,000 for the purchase of Caravelas sugar, produced by Colombo Agroindústria S/A.
The information that a farm that supplies sugar cane to Caravelas was caught using slave labor in Pirangi (SP) was revealed in a report by Pedro Stopasolas, published in the Brazil in fact. At the time, labor inspectors found 32 workers in unhealthy housing and without living conditions The company is the target of action in the interior of SP.
Refined sugar Caravelas is among the best sellers in Brazil / Disclosure
The city of São Paulo allocated more than R$ 1.6 million for the purchase of juices from Cooperativa Garibaldi, suspected of committing the crime in Rio Grande do Sul. Deputy Paula Nunes, responsible for the actions, states that state law No. 14,946, of 2013, addresses slave labor and deals with the possibility that companies convicted of using work analogous to slavery have their registration as ICMS taxpayers revoked.
Remember: Farm that supplies sugar cane Caravelas is caught with slave labor in SP
For the deputies, the actions aim more than to deal with the values signed in the contract, but to demarcate that the state should not have a direct connection with such companies. “Whether the amount is high or the value is small, the state government maintains a contract with a company that is being investigated for maintaining slave labor in its production chain is an offense against workers, human rights and any citizen of São Paulo”, says congresswoman Paula Nunes .
What those involved say
The government of the state of São Paulo stated that it has not yet been officially notified of the action taken by the state deputies, and that it “repudiates any and all practices of work analogous to slavery”. The city of São Paulo stated that the contract was fulfilled before the complaints and did not make a new purchase with Cooperativa Garibaldi. Colombo Agroindústria S/A stated that it has no contract with the government or with Kawan Hideyuki Hattano and that it repudiates work analogous to slavery.
Editing: Thales Schmidt
