Summary
- Top labor inspection official defied order from labor minister, sources say
- BYD contractor was accused of labor abuses in 2024 case
- Dismissal deepens tensions between Lula government and labor inspectors
RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Brazil’s secretary of labor inspection was fired for adding Chinese automaker BYD to a registry of employers accused of subjecting workers to conditions described by the government as similar to slavery, two people close to the matter told Reuters.
Luiz Felipe Brandao de Mello disobeyed an order from Labor Minister Luiz Marinho to leave the electric vehicle maker off Brazil’s labor abuse “dirty list,” said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter.
His dismissal, made official in Monday’s official gazette, is the latest flashpoint in a crisis between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government and the traditionally independent inspectors who target serious labor abuses. Marinho has previously been accused of interfering in their work to keep big companies off the list.
Brazil’s Labor Ministry said the dismissal was “an administrative act,” without providing further details. Mello did not reply to a request for comment.
‘POLITICAL INTERFERENCE’
Brazil’s national association of labor inspectors, Anafitra, criticized the firing, adding that it weakens Brazil’s fight against labor abuses and undermines the impact of the list, considered a powerful tool in such cases.
“The dismissal of the secretary signals an escalation of political interference in labor inspections,” Anafitra said in a statement.
The focus on BYD follows a 2024 case in which 163 Chinese workers employed by a contractor were found building the automaker’s flagship factory in Brazil under what Brazilian officials described as “slavery-like” conditions.
The scandal hurt BYD’s reputation and delayed construction for months in Brazil, the company’s largest market after China.
BYD did not reply to a request for comment. It has previously said it had no knowledge of any violations until reports by Brazilian media in late 2024.
ORDER DISOBEYED
Under government rules, the labor abuse list must be updated every six months, with the latest deadline occurring on April 6.
Marinho told Mello to hold off adding BYD’s name, without citing any technical justification, the sources said.
Two days later, a court granted BYD an injunction removing it from the list. A final ruling is pending.
BYD has boasted strong ties to Brazil’s leftist government, with Lula attending an inauguration of its factory in October, despite the ongoing labor abuse case at the time.
Beyond reputational damage, firms added to the list are barred from getting certain kinds of loans from Brazilian banks.
Last year, Marinho made unusual final reviews of labor inspectors’ investigations to bar the inclusion of some firms, including a division of Brazilian meatpacker JBS.
Mello had expressed opposition to those decisions by Marinho, one source said, adding that the refusal to obey orders in the BYD case was seen as a final straw.
Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Brad Haynes and Paul Simao
