Slaves in Brazil: BYD scandal completes one year, but labor problems continue

The legal doctrine adopted in Brazil understands that the various human rights must coexist with each other and with different people, without greater importance to one or the other. This, however, has an exception: the prohibition of slave labor, which has no ‘excuse’ in any case.

This is because, in the understanding of jurists, forced labor is an intolerable degradation to the human condition under any hypothesis. This degradation, however, was found at the BYD plant in Camaçari (BA), a year ago, on December 23, 2024.

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On that day, a task force of the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT) and the Ministry of Labor (MTE) and Employment caught a shocking situation: 220 Chinese workers living in precarious conditions, inside the automaker’s plant.

BYD was responsible for the biggest slavery scandal in Brazil of the year. “According to the inspection team, the finding was based on the identification of three main elements: forced labor, degrading conditions and exhausting working hours,” said the MTE.

The authorities’ findings included:

• Accommodations in which people slept without mattresses and without closets to store their belongings
• Existence of a toilet for 31 people, generating queues of 1h30 for employees to be able to relieve themselves. Bathrooms were also found without toilet paper and water to dispose of excrement
• Unhealthy kitchens, with raw and cooked food stored on the floor and mixed with building materials
• Absence of drinking water, forcing the consumption of tap water
• Absence of tables for meals, so food was consumed in bed or on the floor
• Workers in exhausting hours and without days off (one of the workers said he had not rested for 25 days)
• Use of tools with a serious health risk — such as circular saws — without providing PPE for employees

Aspects related to “debt bondage” were also found. In this modality, high amounts were charged for basic subsistence items, so that BYD slaves had to work to pay their own bosses.

All this with passports retained to prevent escapes from “captivity” – which were watched, according to the MPT, by military police officers who illegally acted as private security guards.

Problems continue

According to sources heard on condition of anonymity by AutoPapo, the dimension of the scandal has even generated diplomatic repercussions.

This is because the Chinese enterprise in Bahia has always been one of the main flags of the peaceful relationship between Brazil and China.

What was found in Camaçari, however, went against one of the main banners of the Workers’ Party, which found itself in a tight spot against its Asian partners.

However, none of this prevented labor conflicts from continuing to occur there.

• In May 2025, Correio 24 Horas reported that 300 workers from two outsourced companies went on strike. The reason would be the delay in the salary of employees — mostly poor.
• The same newspaper, in October, reported that BYD acted to repress the actions of unions in the area. According to workers heard by Correio, the company’s HR pressured workers to refuse union contributions, in order to weaken the entities that represent workers.
• Nevertheless, in early December there was a new strike. This time, the protest asked for “better working conditions, such as expansion of the cafeteria, reinforcement in the transportation of employees and increase in the number of bathrooms”.
• There were also complaints of serious illegalities, such as the dismissal of members of the Internal Commission for the Prevention of Accidents, who enjoy stability, according to the Law, from the registration of the candidacy to Cipa until one year after the end of the mandate on the commission.

Slavery’s outcome

In the end, BYD tried to blame the outsourced company, which had the contract terminated. The labor inspectors, however, stated that this was just an excuse.

According to the inspectors, “the existence of an employment relationship was characterized” with the automaker, which could not blame third parties. In addition, there were indications of fraud with the Brazilian migration authorities and “strong evidence” of international trafficking in persons, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The MTE issued more than 60 infraction notices on behalf of BYD, which had part of the Bahian factory interdicted. The MPT also filed a public civil action in the amount of R$ 257 million. Finally, BYD signed a Conduct Adjustment Agreement to resume operations at the site.

“Slavery constitutes such a serious violation of human rights that its prohibition is considered imperative. (…) Slave labor, therefore, violates one of the most basic fundamental rights provided for in the Constitution: the Dignity of the Human Person,” said the MPT, in the civil action against BYD.

BYD did not respond to requests for comment until the publication of this article.