BYD, the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, has been officially blacklisted in Brazil for effectively tolerating "modern-day slave labor." The Chinese automaker's plant in Brazil, intended to serve as a key production hub for South America, has instead become the center of a human rights scandal, dealing a significant blow to its global expansion strategy.
Passport Confiscation, Seven-Day Work Weeks: The 'Slave-Like' Conditions Brazil Uncovered
According to the South China Morning Post and Reuters on Wednesday, Brazil's Ministry of Labor has added BYD's Brazilian subsidiary to its "dirty list" — a registry of businesses found to have engaged in forced labor and human rights violations. The list functions as a blacklist that publicly names employers who have subjected workers to slavery-like conditions.
The measure follows a labor exploitation case discovered in December 2024 at a construction site for BYD's factory in Camaçari, Bahia state, in northeastern Brazil. When Brazilian labor authorities sent inspectors to the site, they found Chinese workers effectively confined to the premises, working seven days a week with restricted freedom of movement.
Inspectors discovered 107 worker passports locked inside a cabinet marked "security" in Chinese. Some passports had been held since 2024, and workers were unable to retrieve them freely. Armed private security personnel were stationed around the construction site and dormitories, and doors were locked after dinner, preventing workers from leaving without supervisor approval.
Living conditions were equally dire. Some beds lacked mattresses entirely, while others had only thin foam pads approximately 3 centimeters thick. Food was stored on the floor alongside personal belongings, and cockroaches and rats were found in sleeping quarters.
In one dormitory, 31 workers shared a single bathroom, forcing them to line up starting at 4 a.m. to leave for the worksite by 5:30 a.m.
Conditions at the construction site were similarly poor. Only eight toilets were available, and workers suffered skin damage from prolonged sun exposure without adequate sunscreen.
Monthly Wages Under $200: A System of Wage and Identity Control
