Entities defend a study that accuses slave labor in the coffee supply chain in Minas Gerais
Rural workers await the arrival of transportation (bus or van) to be taken to the coffee farms where they work under degrading and slave-like conditions. Photo: João Paulo Brito/Conectas
Trabalhadores rurais aguardam a chegada de transporte (ônibus ou van) para serem levados às fazendas de café nas quais trabalham sob condições degradantes e análogas à escravidão. Foto João Paulo Brito/Conectas
The Articulation of Rural Employees of the State of Minas Gerais (Adere-MG) and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) reacted to criticism made by Mesa Nacional do Café and the National Coffee Council (CNC) to the report “Eu não voltaria nunca” – Riscos de trabalho forçado nas cadeias de fornecimento do café no Brasil (“I would never come back” – Risks of forced labor in coffee supply chains in Brazil, in a free translation), published in February of this year.
In public statements, the entities restated the methodological consistency of the research and defended the importance of the debate on labor violations in Brazilian coffee growing. According to Adere-MG, the statements by the productive sector attempt to disqualify the study and ultimately ignore the reality faced by workers subjected to degrading situations in the coffee farms. “Instead of acknowledging the immense problem that is the nearly generalized precariousness in employment relations, the recurring and endemic crime of slave-like labor, the board misses the excellent opportunity to recognize the problem and, with that, redirect its work, [which would allow it to] truly contribute to the cultural shift in archaic labor relations in the coffee production chain in Brazil, which is regrettable and revolting”, the entity stated.
The labor violations in coffee farms in the South of Minas Gerais were reported, in 2018, to the National Contact Point (NCP) by Conectas Direitos Humanos and Adere. The region supplies multinationals such as Nestlé, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and Illy. The NCP, responsible for promoting OECD Guidelines for Multinational Corporations, accepted some of the complaints, but lacks effective monitoring mechanisms.
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“Eu não voltaria nunca”: The survey was carried out based on parameters defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The survey heard 24 rural workers, part of a group of 100 people rescued from slave-like conditions in coffee farms. According to the report, the main problems reported include the abuse of vulnerability, exhaustive workdays, isolation, precarious living conditions, and deceitful promises during recruitment.
The numbers reveal the scope of irregularities: 24 workers reported suffering abuse of vulnerability; 23 reported abusive working and housing conditions; 19 reported excessive working hours; and 18 stated that they lived in isolation. In a statement, BHRC highlights that “each worker reported, on average, five indicators of forced labor”.
The report points out that around 67% of workers in the coffee industry work unregistered, a condition that expands social vulnerability and hinders access to labor rights, social security, and protection to health and safety at work. The labor violations in the global coffee production chain were also approached in the study “Trabalho escravo no café: das fazendas às multinacionais” (Slave labor in coffee: from farms to multinationals, in a free translation), produced by Conectas, which demonstrates how structural failures, such as the absence of transparency and governance, facilitate the irregular outsourcing of labor and the use of certifications to conceal precarious working conditions.
Data from the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) point out that, between 2017 and 2025, over a thousand employees were rescued from conditions analogous to slavery in activities connected to coffee growing in Brazil, 700 of them in Minas Gerais alone. The state also recurringly appears among states with the largest number of employers included in the so-called “Dirty List” of slave labor, a list kept by the MTE that gathers companies and landowners found exploiting slave-like labor.
The challenges faced by workers in coffee growing also involve risks related to occupational health and safety. With the start of the harvest period in Espírito Santo, reported crop accidents have increased. This month alone, four deaths were reported in the state: three workers died as a result of a fire in housing at a coffee farm in Vila Valério, and a fourth victim died after falling from a staircase while filling up a dryer in Jaguaré. In São Mateus, local authorities report up to two occurrences a week related to harvest work and the use of agricultural equipment. Experts warn that the adoption of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), such as gloves, protection goggles, masks, aprons and boots, is crucial to reduce the risks of accidents and to preserve the integrity of rural workers.
Watch The Human Cost of Coffee: Rescuing enslaved workers in Brazilian farms
