Rio Grande do Sul company that threatened cuts if Lula wins election may have to pay R$10 million

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A mining company in Soledade was the fourth company in Rio Grande do Sul to sign a TAC (Term of Adjustment of Conduct) this Tuesday (18) with the state’s Labor Prosecutor’s Office for a complaint of electoral harassment.

Cases of electoral harassment have skyrocketed since the beginning of the second round of the 2022 elections. While in the first round there were five complaints in the state, in the second round, 51 were already counted, according to the organ.

In the country, reports soared from 52 to 364 (a sevenfold increase), according to a survey carried out this Tuesday by the agency.

Mining company Brazil Original Minerais signed an agreement after releasing a statement to suppliers and service providers evaluating the electoral scenario with “immense sadness” and predicting a reduction in production and suspension of investments if the result of the first round was maintained.

The company also asked for support from “all good people”, in the election, to whom it defends “country without corruption”, “private property”, “God and family”, themes associated with the electoral campaign of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

According to the agreement signed this Tuesday, the company has 24 hours to distribute and post on bulletin boards at its units a statement that free choice in the electoral process is a guaranteed right and that it is illegal to campaign for or against candidates in the professional environment. .

The company must also hold meetings with its workers to clarify these points and inform them that voting is free and secret. The mining company must commit not to take any retaliatory action if employees make electoral choices different from the owner.

The MPT-RS also signed similar agreements with the Mais Frango slaughterhouse, from Miraguaí, Fazenda da Amara, which raises cattle in Lavras do Sul, and with Garcia Padaria e Confeitaria, from Cerro Grande do Sul.

The agreements included retractions published on social networks, among other measures, such as funding advertisements in communication vehicles for awareness campaigns against electoral harassment, as compensation for collective moral damage.

Fazenda da Amarra, for example, had to retract for having “directly guided commercial partners and indirectly employees to vote for a certain candidate”, according to the agency.

The owner of the confectionery Garcia, in her Facebook profile, admitted and apologized for “having directly guided her followers to check the social networks of her employees, in order to find out who they vote for and if they vote for the same candidate as the employer. .”

Already the More Frango meatpacking company committed to “not adopt retaliatory measures, such as the loss of jobs”.

MPT seeks compensation of R$ 10 million from agribusiness company

The MPT-RS also filed a public civil action against the Stara Indústria de Implementos Agrícolas, one of the most influential cases in Rio Grande do Sul. The agribusiness company based in Não-Me-Toque released, on the Monday after the first round, a letter announcing “a reduction of its budget base by at least 30%” if the result was maintained. The company was already the target of investigation by the Passo Fundo Labor Attorney for materials sent to employees that constituted coercion.

In a video released on October 4, the president of Stara, Átila Trennepohl, stated that the letter to suppliers that circulates on social networks only points to a review of the company’s projections.

In the opinion of the MPT-RS, the company’s failure to recognize that it was committing an illegal act prevented an adjustment of conduct from being considered. The body is asking the Justice for compensation of R$ 10 million for collective moral damage, in addition to the payment of individual moral damages for each person who had an employment relationship with Stara last September.

wanted by SheetStara stated that, so far, the video from the 4th follows the company’s only response to the episode.

Among Stara’s partners, Gilson Lari Trennepohl donated R$1 million in total in this year’s election, with R$350,000 to Bolsonaro’s campaign and R$300,000 to Onyx Lorenzoni (PL-RS).

Cases range from communications to direct guidance to employees

According to the MPT-RS chief prosecutor, Rafael Foresti Pego, the multiplication of reported cases may also have occurred due to the media repercussion of situations such as Stara’s, which lead other victims to seek the agency when they feel coerced.

Cases of electoral harassment range from reporting to suppliers and employees with concerns about the presidential election results, predicting financial hardship and service cuts, to direct guidance to employees.

“What has been observed with this growth is a normalization, almost banalization of a practice that is illegal. There is awareness that it is illegal, but there is an expectation of impunity or a response that is not agile enough to stop it” , says Rafael Foresti Pego, MPT-RS chief prosecutor.

The MPT set up a working group to speed up investigations, which also includes representatives from the Labor Court, the Electoral Court and the Electoral Public Ministry.

The perspective is that the investigations will extend beyond the electoral period.

“Justice in itself is a lengthy process, as it is reckless conduct to take any kind of attitude without proper investigation of the facts. The assembly of a group, of a crisis office, seeks a total effort to make the conduct illegal stop immediately. But there will, yes, be sanctions that will be applied after the election period and that will be valid for the next elections”, says Pego.

how and where to report

The MPT suggests that workers file complaints with as much material evidence as possible, such as documents, images and text or audio messages. They can be made all over Brazil and anonymously through the website of the Public Ministry of Labor.

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