The mayor and five city councilors elected in 2024 are linked to cases of forced labor.
Politicians have companies on the "dirty list" of slave labor and have been fined for keeping workers in degrading conditions.
247 - On Tuesday (28), National Day to Combat Slave Labor, an alarming fact came to light: a mayor and five councilors elected in 2024 are linked to companies that appear on the so-called dirty list of slave labor, according to a survey carried out byoG1. Among the irregularities found are unsanitary conditions, lack of access to drinking water, and exposure to toxic substances.
The data is the result of cross-referencing the 63 elected officials for municipal positions with the 717 individuals and legal entities present on the "dirty list," updated by the Ministry of Labor in December 2024. The list, created in 2003, is an essential tool for transparency and prevention of slave labor in Brazil, but inclusion on it does not prevent politicians from holding office, since there has been no definitive judicial conviction, as stipulated by the Clean Record Law.
Among the names mentioned are Mayor Marcus Rinco (União), from Alto Paraíso de Goiás (GO), and councilors Fernando Morandi (PSB), from Porto Vitória (PR); Eduardo Lima (PSB), from Beberibe (CE); Fabiano (MDB), from Vera Mendes (PI); Manoel Nascimento (Republicanos), from Amarante (PI); and Gilvan Macedo (Avante), from Ipirá (BA).
What is the "dirty list"?
The "dirty list" of slave labor is a registry that exposes companies and individuals caught subjecting workers to degrading conditions. It is updated semi-annually and does not require a court conviction, being based on inspections carried out by bodies such as the Ministry of Labor, the Federal Police, and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office.
“The inclusion of a company on the ‘dirty list’ is not a punishment,” explains labor inspector Jamile Freitas Virginio. “What it may eventually have are negative repercussions, but the inclusion is about transparency in providing information that is very important for society to make its decisions.”
Last year, Brazil recorded a significant increase in reports of forced labor, with 149 workers rescued in operations. They faced exhausting workdays, forced labor, and precarious living conditions.
Fines and consequences
In addition to having their names linked to the "dirty list," the elected officials or their companies were fined for exploiting workers. However, three of them did not pay the fines and ended up being registered as debtors to the Federal Government.
This default can lead to restrictions, as explained by Eduardo Correa da Silva, president of the Tax Law Commission of the OAB-SP (Brazilian Bar Association of São Paulo). “The next step [in these cases] is the filing of a tax lawsuit against this individual, and from there, they may face several consequences, ranging from the inability to obtain public financing or tax clearance certificates, asset seizure through judicial attachment, to being barred from participating in public tenders.”
Contradiction in the public service
The presence of elected politicians linked to slave labor raises questions about ethics in public administration. Frei Xavier Plassat, coordinator of the program to combat slave labor at the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), highlights the incongruity of this situation: “We think that a person who is running for a position as councilor or mayor is always seeking the common good, but we see that, in practice, it may not be quite like that.”
Despite the seriousness of the cases, current legislation allows these politicians to continue exercising their functions. This fact reignites the debate about the need to tighten electoral rules to prevent people involved in serious human rights violations from holding positions of power.
