Brazil’s labor court has ordered Volkswagen to pay 165 million reais (about $30 million) in collective moral damages over slave-like labor conditions at a company-owned Amazon farm during the 1970s and 1980s. Prosecutors described it as the largest labor reparation in Brazil’s history.
The ruling found that between 1974 and 1986, roughly 300 workers at Volkswagen’s farm in Pará state were subjected to degrading conditions. Workers were hired under irregular contracts to clear forests and prepare pastures, monitored by armed guards, and forced to remain through debt bondage. Housing was precarious, food was insufficient, and no medical care was provided—even for malaria cases.
The case began in 2019, when prosecutors received extensive records from a local priest who had documented the abuses for decades. Witness testimony and official documents led to formal charges against Volkswagen in 2024. Judge Otavio Bruno da Silva Ferreira concluded that the farm belonged to Volkswagen and that the conditions met the legal definition of slave labor.
“Slavery is a ‘present past,’ because its marks remain in Brazilian society,” Ferreira wrote, stressing that acknowledging this legacy is crucial for advancing anti-discrimination measures.
Volkswagen’s Response
Volkswagen’s Brazilian headquarters said it will appeal, maintaining that the company has always upheld labor laws during its 72 years in the country. “Volkswagen reaffirms its unwavering commitment to social responsibility, which is intrinsically linked to its conduct as a legal entity and employer,” the company stated.
Brazil, which enslaved more Africans than any other country in history, was the last in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery, in 1888. The prosecutor’s office described the Volkswagen case as one of the largest examples of modern slavery exploitation in the nation’s recent past.
Looking Ahead
The landmark ruling highlights Brazil’s effort to address historical labor abuses and reinforces the growing accountability of multinational corporations operating in the country.
