M.Officer could be banned from the market for labor practices analogous to slavery.
A clothing brand owned by businessman and playboy Carlos Miele subcontracted Bolivians, paying them between R$3 and R$6 per piece of clothing for 14-hour workdays; an illegal workshop served as a living quarters for six families; this practice, characterized by conditions analogous to slavery and social dumping, has resulted in a R$10 million lawsuit against Miele filed by the Labor Prosecutor's Office.
247 - Due to the practice of labor analogous to slavery, the M.Officer brand, owned by businessman and playboy Carlos Miele, may be banned from the market and is facing a R$10 million lawsuit filed by the Labor Prosecutor's Office. Labor inspectors discovered a workshop contracted by M5 Têxtil, Miele's company that owns M.Officer, employing foreign workers in conditions analogous to slavery. Workers of Bolivian nationality, mostly in irregular conditions in the country, sewed pieces that can be sold for prices above R$1 in Miele's stores in exchange for payments of R$3 to R$6 per unit.
Furthermore, six Bolivians and their wives were forced to sew for 14 hours a day and sleep at their workplace, in makeshift facilities. Two lawsuits were filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office for Labor (MPT). One for collective moral damages, amounting to R$ 7 million, and another, for R$ 3 million, for the practice of social dumping. This refers to the practice characterized by cost reduction resulting from the precariousness of labor with the aim of unfair competition.
"We found clothing, invoices, and the workers themselves admitted that they work for M. Officer. In some cases, production is exclusive to the brand. It's an established system," said Tiago Cavalcanti, Labor Prosecutor. Other major brands, such as Zara, Le Lis Blanc, and Marisa, have already been the target of actions by the Labor Prosecutor's Office and ended up signing a conduct adjustment agreement, but in this case, M. Officer refused.
Miele's company issued the following statement regarding the case:
"M5 has not yet been notified of the aforementioned legal action, and is therefore unable to comment on its content. Nevertheless, it reaffirms its position that it fully complies with all labor obligations related to its business activities, in accordance with current legislation, and that it bears no responsibility for the reported facts, as will be demonstrated in due course before the Judiciary."
Below is a news article from Agência Brasil regarding this matter:
M.Officer could be banned from the market for using labor analogous to slavery.
The M.Officer brand may be banned from the Brazilian market at the request of the Labor Prosecutor's Office in São Paulo (MPT/SP) due to the use of labor analogous to slavery in the production chain of the company M5 Indústria e Comércio, owner of the brand.
A public civil action, filed on the 15th, demands the payment of R$ 10 million in compensation and the application of the São Paulo Law to Combat Slavery. The law, approved last year, provides for the revocation of the registration for the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) and prevents owners from carrying out activities in the same sector or opening a new company in the state of São Paulo for ten years.
Six inspections carried out by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) in conjunction with the Public Prosecutor's Office for Labor (MPT), the Federal Public Defender's Office (DPU), and the Federal Revenue Service gave rise to the action. During the inspections, degrading conditions were found, such as exposed wiring from machines, gas cylinders, communal bathrooms with a strong odor of urine, excessive dust, lack of lighting, absence of personal protective equipment and fire extinguishers. In addition, the workers, mostly immigrants, lived on the premises and received between R$ 3 and R$ 6 per piece produced, working average shifts of 14 hours.
“They worked exhaustively to get the maximum value. The investigations showed the same reality in all the workshops. We identified that the situation verified in November was not episodic [and repeated in May]. It was part of the brand's production chain,” explained prosecutor Tatiana Simonetti.
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, M5 used intermediary companies to subcontract sewing services, which were carried out in clandestine workshops without any labor rights. "The brand has been taking advantage of this system, contracting companies that lack production capacity and then subcontracting the manufacturing to these workshops," the prosecutor stated.
The prosecutor highlighted that M5, which has branches throughout the country under the M.Officer brand, only employs 20 seamstresses. "The orders they place are for 2.080 pieces. They deliberately turn a blind eye to the productive capacity of the intermediary to guarantee the brand's production at low cost and place the workers in a degrading situation," she stated.
Tatiana explained that the lawsuit seeks to hold M5 fully responsible, given that the outsourcing itself is already irregular. "Clothing manufacturing is a core business activity. It's both industry and commerce. Insofar as it does this, the company is indeed responsible for every worker," she stated.
In the lawsuit, the Public Prosecutor's Office also demonstrates that the fashion brand assigned tasks to the sewing workshops. "We identified in the invoices and receipts that the brand gave direct orders, including delivery deadlines, details of the clothes produced, and sample pieces. There was significant interference," they reported. One of the analyzed invoices shows that the brand would pay R$ 52 to the intermediary per unit of pants, of which R$ 13 would go to the workshop owner. The seamstress would only receive one-third of the value, even if he produced the entire garment.
According to the prosecutor, the public civil action is innovative in its request for compensation of R$ 3 million for... dumping Social unfair competition occurs when a company benefits from the low costs resulting from precarious working conditions in order to engage in unfair competition. "It's an attempt to change this scenario because, unfortunately, this isn't a reality unique to M.Officer. It's present throughout the textile industry," he stated.
The courts will decide how this money should be invested: whether it will be applied to the Workers' Assistance Fund (FAT) or to a public works project that brings social benefits to the identified workers, such as the creation of an immigrant center.
A Agency Brazil We contacted M5 Indústria e Comércio for comment on the MPT's action, but, as of the time of publication of this report, there has been no response.