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Slaves of Steel Update: |
Ineffective Action
When questioned about the contradiction of having the Abrinq seal and being accused of involvement with slave labor, Simasa´s administrative manager Marcelo Almeida responded: "We do not have information that the workers in the charcoal plants live in these conditions". He maintained that Simasa has nothing to do with what happens in these places: "We only buy the charcoal. They are suppliers of raw material and this is the only relationship that we have with these charcoal operations". Later, one of the directors of Queiroz Galvão and Simasa President Director André de Oliveira Câncio admitted the existence of the problems in the productive chain and promised solutions. Almeida´s affirmations do not coincide with the norms that Simasa needed to follow to win the Abrinq seal. The seal assures the inexistence of child labor at all the links of the productive chain. The workers themselves report that the inspectors from the iron companies visit the charcoal oeprations to check for the presence of children. "If they find children, even if it's the child of the cook, they don't buy more charcoal", said a charcoal worker during an inspection from the Mobile Inspection Group in June, when Simasa was cited once again. That is, there is selective and isolated inspection by the part of the iron manufacturer. The company inspectors, as dozens of reports from the Mobile Group indicate, close their eyes to slave labor, to the terrible sanitary conditions, and limit their inspection to the presence of children. The allegation that the charcoal producers are only suppliers and do not have any ties to the iron manufacturer is not accepted by the Attorney General for Labor or the Ministry of Labor. These entities understand that the iron manufacturers are directly responsible for everything that happens at these locations. This is because they build the plants used to burn the wood to produce charcoal. The iron manufacturers also demand exclusivity in the delivery of charcoal. "If by chance they find out that we deliver to another, they come here and take down the plant", explained another charcoal worker. Report In his March report, Labor Prosecutor Luercy Lino Lopes wrote that the entire production of charcoal is conducted in the exclusive interest of the region's iron manufacturers. According to Lopes, they are the plants that make viable the establishment of the charcoal furnaces, financing their construction and the construction of lodging - which usually is never built. At another point of the document, he writes: "The iron manufacturers use sub-contractors, people with no economic-financial independence to serve as a front for the operation (nearly always charcoal workers), who for all purposes, are raised to the condition of 'employers' of the workers and 'owners' of the charcoal plants. They are mere intermediaries or 'fronts' according to what could be clearly perceived". The iron companies pay the fines set by the Ministry of Labor and
not the charcoal producers. Transportation between the charcoal
and iron furnaces is not conducted in trucks of the iron company
but in those owned by the administrators of the charcoal furnaces.
This service is one of the worst activities on the labor front,
because the loaders need to climb steep ramps with sacks weighing
more than 50 kilos.
Companies AThe companies responded in different ways to the charges that they have slave labor in their productive chains. Gerdau sent a note by e-mail from its press office, indicating that the violations were practiced by service providers (charcoal producers) and that the company considers itself to be only partially responsible for the problem. Queiroz Galvão, through the director president of Simasa, André de Oliveira Câncio, adopted an attitude that is not very common among the companies: it admitted there is a problem and promised to undertake a number of activities by the end of the year to avoid new complaints. In Brazil, it is common for many companies to distance themselves from responsibility - passing it on to suppliers - and treat the problem as an isolated incident and discredit the complainant. Vale do Rio Doce responded that it sells iron ore and logistics to the steel companies according to market needs, because it is the only supplier of this raw material in Brazil. It also emphasized that it participates in a campaign, in partnership with the Superior Labor Court, against the use of slave labor, which reinforces its stance in relation to social responsibility. Vale´s press relations manager Fernando Thompson considered the initiatives taken to remove slave labor from the production chain to be extremely important. Nucor, through its executive vice president John Ferriola, maintained
that it does not buy pig iron directly from the companies mentioned
in the report. It also said that it was not aware of the accusations
and opposes the use of slave labor. According to Ferriola, the price
that the company pays for Brazilian pig iron is competitive with
all the other sources in various countries.
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This report is part of the publication "Observatório Social Em Revista" - # 6 - June 2004 - Florianópolis, Brazil English version: Jeffrey Hoff Published by Observatório Social
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Until
a short time ago, the charcoal operations did not make distinctions
between adult and child labor. Now, the iron companies panic when
they hear of minors younger than 18 at the work sites. Simasa, holds
the Company Friend of a Child Seal issued by the Abrinq Foundation,
a respected non-governmental organization.
