BYD plant construction in Brazil halted due to slave labour conditions

Brazilian authorities have halted the construction of a car assembly plant of Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD in the state of Bahia due to working conditions that were deemed comparable to "slave labour".

Here's What We Know

Brazil's Ministry of Labour (MPT) said more than 160 workers had been rescued. They were hired by Jinjiang Construction Brazil, which, according to the investigation, withheld the workers' passports, failed to pay their wages and provided degrading living conditions.

The workers lived in four dormitories in the city of Camasari. In one of them, people slept on beds without mattresses and used shower rooms for 31 people. Because of this, they had to get up very early to get ready for work.

BYD's response

BYD said it has cancelled its contract with the contractor. The company said it had repeatedly demanded that Jinjiang Construction improve conditions for workers and conducted a "detailed inspection" of working conditions for subcontractors. Workers from the construction site were relocated to hotels.

Context

BYD, one of the largest electric car manufacturers in the world, is actively expanding its presence in Brazil, which is the Chinese company's largest overseas market. In 2015 BYD opened a plant in São Paulo to produce electric bus chassis, and last year announced a R$3bn ($484.2m) investment to build an electric vehicle factory.

Source: BBC