Nearly one million men, women and children work for little or no wages as forced laborers in Latin America. They are modern-day slaves that are lured from their impoverished towns by slave camp bosses promising high paying jobs. This is the case of many people working in the Amazon jungle of Brazil as slaves are forced into hard labor such as clearing trees, mining for gold and most importantly, making charcoal that will be used to make pig iron. According to an article in Observatorio Social, "the Brazilian Amazon produces the world's best pig iron," a key ingredient of steel that is used in the production of automobile parts. This steel then ends up in cars and trucks made in the United States by Ford, General Motors, Nissan and Toyota.A 2006 news story by Bloomberg News reported that “in the past decade, Brazilian labor inspectors and prosecutors have freed hundreds of slaves working in degrading or inhumane conditions and without pay in charcoal camps that supply pig iron plants.” The slaves in these camps lived in small wooden shacks surrounded by miles and miles of jungle where they had no electricity, no toilets or any other kind of plumbing, no safety goggles, shoes, gloves or tools needed for work, and all drank unsanitary water that was filled with dust, tadpoles and insects. The slave camp bosses had lured them in with promises of jobs but then once there the workers were charged hundreds of dollars for food, transport, and clothing which was held as debt and then forced, sometimes by gunpoint, to be worked off. The lack of money, miles of dangerous jungle, a long distance from home, sometimes hundreds of miles, and intimidation, make it impossible for the hopeless slaves to leave.
After the investigation by Bloomberg News was released exposing these companies, Toyota Motor, the world’s se
cond largest auto-manufacturer, did not join Ford Motors, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and Honda when they announced plans to work together to train suppliers to avoid buying materials made by slaves. The Bloomberg findings reported that U.S Customs’ records showed that Toyota Tsusho America in New York, known as TAI, "was named as the importer of 13,699 metric tons of pig iron from Usina Siderurgica de Maraba SA or Usimar," a company that purchases its charcoal from Brazilian slave camps, on November 4th, just two days after the Bloomberg article was published.Toyota continues to deny any wrong doing. In fact, Toyota Tsusho America Senior Vice President Mike Lavender said that to the best of TAI’s knowledge all Brazilian pig iron producers that TAI purchases from do not buy charcoal from slave camps because they have written assurances from their suppliers. The fact is that, as the Bloomberg article reports, it is well documented that Usimar had dropped out of a Brazilian association of pig iron producers that sponsors programs to combat slavery in charcoal camps. “It’s very clear that Toyota is in denial.” says Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves, the U.S. branch of the oldest human rights group in the world. “They’re being disingenuous. That just doesn’t wash. Just a hint of slavery in a supply chain is unacceptable” he added.
It is truly a disgrace when a large company, such as Toyota, simply looks the other way and ignores the inhumane practices of its suppliers just to make a bigger profit. The products of slave labor enter our economy because corporations like Toyota Motors do not ask their suppliers enough questions. It is irresponsible and these companies must be held accountable by consumers for their actions. Americans must be alerted to their practices. One would hope that most Americans would be appalled by this immoral behavior and discouraged from buying cars that were made from parts involving slave labor. Consumers need to be informed in order to make knowledgeable decisions when making purchases so that they can exert a certain amount of influence on companies’ behavior and policies. It is our moral duty to do so.
