LatinNews Daily - 06 October 2023

* Brazil’s labour ministry has updated its registry of companies which subjugate employees to slavery-like working conditions, known as the ‘Lista Suja’ (dirty list), which is revised twice a year. Having investigated labour rights violation claims flagged up between 2018-2023, the ministry’s labour inspection secretariat added 204 employers to the Lista Suja, the largest number of employers added in one update since records began. Of the latest additions to the list, 23 individuals or companies were owners of charcoal production facilities and 22 were owners of cattle ranches. Other notable sectors included domestic services (19 employers), coffee cultivation (12) and mining & quarrying (11). The employers whose cases involved the greatest number of workers included an agribusiness company Agro Pecuaraia Nova Galia, based in the central-state state of Goiás which subjected 138 workers to slave-like conditions; followed by Alirio Caetano dos Santos Junior, the owner of a factory based in the capital region (Distrito Federal), who subjected 78 workers to such conditions.