Operation uncovers slave labor in Salvador.
Workers recruited by GAF Logística, from Rio de Janeiro, earn up to R$ 40 to distribute telephone directories in Salvador; Darcilínia Gomes da Silva, 58 years old, says she has been doing the job for five years; "When I go back to Rio, they give me about R$ 40 or R$ 50. Better than nothing"; two men were arrested in the act.
Bahia 247
A joint operation by the Labor Prosecutor's Office (MPT), the Regional Superintendence of Labor and Employment (SRTE), and the Federal Police (PF) arrested José Arildo Rodrigues and Edson Muniz da Silva in the act of keeping workers in conditions of slavery.
Seventeen workers were rescued from a group that provided services to the company GAF Logística Ltda., based in Rio de Janeiro, from where they came to work distributing telephone directories for Telelistas.net. The operation was carried out after complaints from residents of the Doron neighborhood, where there was a rented house to shelter 30 workers.
According to the MPT's press office, the director of GAF Logística, Gustavo Campilho, confirmed the hiring and offered to come to Salvador to begin the process of compensating the workers and clarifying the facts.
According to labor inspector Joatan Reis, "the number of workers who are victims of the company is likely even higher, and next week we expect to reach two more groups that we know are housed in other locations in the city."
He is referring to information from the recruiters themselves that there are two more recruiters leading similar groups who are in rented houses in other neighborhoods.
The workers revealed that they receive R$ 200 for delivering the lists, and some said that the amount received was as low as R$ 40.
"I've never seen a situation like this before, people leaving their hometowns to work in exchange for handouts," said prosecutor Virgínia Senna.
One of the rescued workers, Darcilínia Gomes da Silva, 58, says she has been doing this type of work for five years. "A person my age doesn't find a job easily. So I prefer to come to other cities for this work and earn what I can."
She revealed that she received tips from people to whom she delivered phone books, and it was with this money that she bought snacks and paid for transportation. "Then when I go back to Rio, people give me about R$40 or R$50. Better than nothing."