Summary

Brazilian authorities discovered 163 Chinese workers allegedly living in “slavery-like conditions” at a BYD electric vehicle factory construction site in Camacari.

Prosecutors suspect human trafficking under contractor Jinjiang Group, citing poor living conditions such as mattress-less beds and inadequate cooking facilities.

BYD terminated its contract with the contractor but dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign against Chinese brands.

The workers have been moved to hotels, but their current whereabouts remain unclear as investigations continue. BYD’s factory is set to begin production next year.

  • @snekerpimp
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    221 month ago

    I mean, they are undercutting everyone on price on their cars. How else are they going to reach those prices without exploiting their workers.

    • @rockSlayer
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      21 month ago

      The Western car brands do this too, but instead of making things cheap they keep the price for ICE cars for even more profit.

          • @jeffw
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            -21 month ago

            In the supply chain. OEM parts are not made by the car brands.

            For example, Ford doesn’t make headlights. They buy them from a headlight company. If the headlights were made by kids, do you blame Ford or the headlight company?

            • @rockSlayer
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              51 month ago

              I blame both. Fuck Ford for sourcing parts made by child labor, and fuck the manufacturer for using child labor.

            • @JeeBaiChow
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              11 month ago

              Yeah. About time they were held accountable for due diligence on their supply chain. ‘i didn’t know’ wouldn’t fly as a defence for an individual, why should it for a corporation? Convenient deniability of accountability.

              • @jeffw
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                01 month ago

                You know the conditions for workers who made every item you bought?

    • @[email protected]
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      1 month ago

      Brazilian law calls it slavery like conditions because the institution of slavery doesn’t exist, or at least shouldn’t

    • @jeffw
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      21 month ago

      News outlets are careful with language because of libel laws. That’s why we have “accused murderer” or “suspected gunman” even when we have footage of the crime

    • @marcos
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      11 month ago

      “Slavery-like” is not slavery.

      That said, those people were in slavery. It’s just that the company is being persecuted for 2 other related crimes (slavery-like conditions and human traffic).

  • @jeffw
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    101 month ago

    Not shocking. Many of these sketchy Chinese companies offer promises of profits abroad, then abuse the workers and drop them somewhere where they have no support system to rely on.

    ProPublica did a great series on this earlier this year on the American marijuana industry

  • @JeeBaiChow
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    11 month ago

    Govts usually will require local management as a means of ‘promoting local business leafers’ - I’m sure there’s a local in the management structure making these calls. This person is not going to have a good day, I mean it’s pretty much fuck your own countrymen for the sake of the corporate higher ups in a different country.

    Also, fuck corporate dispersal of reaponsibility. At all levels, it’s always ‘the decision was made by head office/ higher ups/ ‘the board’, I’m just the executor’, not the sole decision maker. The board of management needs to be made responsible for these shortcomings in accountability, as high up as is prosecutable by the law of the land. Make these turncoats think twice about selling out their country for a handful of shekels/ renmenbi.

  • @Eddbopkins
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    1 month ago

    no surprise that a Chinese manufacturer are using slave labor to make their products. a good chinamen is a good slave, that’s what society has taught me since they just lie down and accept this kind of treatment. that’s what the CCP teaches. those people are fucked for all time as long as the CCP remains in power.