The accusation of slave labor can impact the image of Brazilian wine

It’s harvest time in Brazilian wineries.

But the festive season of harvesting grapes for wine production has taken on bitter notes in recent days.

The news of the rescue of just over 200 workers in conditions analogous to slavery in the region of Bento Gonçalves (RS) shocked consumers and the gastronomy world.

Besides indignation, there is the fear of how the involvement of the name of some of the main Brazilian wineries in the case will reflect on the national wine market.

According to information from the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), the victims were hired by Fênix Prestação de Serviços.

The labor outsourcing company contracted with three major wine producers in Brazil: Aurora, Salton, and the Garibaldi Cooperative.

According to reports, the men worked daily for more than 15 hours without breaks and with only one day off a week.

The complaint also mentions lodgings in terrible conditions, rotten food, abusive demands, and even physical aggression, with electric shocks and pepper spray by the main contractor, Fênix.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Highway Police (PRF), the Federal Police (PF), and the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE).

In official notes, the wineries say they had no knowledge of such practices and are providing solidarity and care to the rescued workers.

According to the labor law, wineries are co-responsible for the workers’ situation, even if indirectly involved.

Furthermore, seeing the names of important players in the market involved in this case causes distrust in the national wine production chain.

In social networks, the talk is of mourning in Brazilian wine, and images associating the production of wines in the country with slave labor appear in allusion to the case.

Among winemakers, producers, and experts in the area, the reflections on the reputation and market of the national wine are worrying. The main fear is a generalization.

“Wine has a beautiful trajectory in Brazil, and one cannot let the action of only three wineries sully the dedication of more than 500 years of history,” says the sommelière and teacher at Chef Gourmet Santa Felicidade, Lindslei Monteiro Antunes.

She argues that one cannot generalize a possible mistake of three companies in a universe of more than a thousand Brazilian wineries.

The journalist and sommelière Patrícia Ecave follows the same tone.

Patrícia says the situation is regrettable, but she warns that this case cannot harm other national wine producers.

“We who work for the increase in consumption and the strengthening of the quality of the national wine are saddened by this news”, she laments.

The production of Brazilian wine has gained space in recent years, with the growth of domestic consumption and the improvement in the quality of production.

According to data from Embrapa, 90% of the wine production in Brazil takes place in Rio Grande do Sul, mainly in the Serra Gaúcha.

In 2020, 745,000 tonnes of grapes were harvested in the region to produce wine and juice.

WHAT THE WINERIES SAY

Here is what the wineries involved in the accusation of slave labor say.

In an open letter, Cooperativa Vinícola Garibaldi repudiated any practice that affronts respect for human beings or compromises their integrity.

The company said it was showing solidarity with the victims and their families and reiterated that it does not agree with the practices denounced.

Vinícola Aurora, on its Instagram account, expressed solidarity with the victims and justified hiring outsourced workers due to the region’s labor shortage.

The winery also said it paid the outsourcing company over R$6,000 per employee.

In a statement on social networks, Salton said it “deeply regrets recent events and repudiates any act of human rights violation and work under precarious conditions and analogous to slavery.

The company, however, admits that it did not verify in loco the housing conditions offered to workers.

“It was an isolated fact in the company’s centennial history, but a point of improvement that will be addressed with all the seriousness and respect that the situation requires.”

With information from Gazeta do Povo