Frigorífico in MG holds a pro-Bolsonaro event during lunch break for employees; watch videos

Employees of a meatpacking plant in Minas Gerais were pressured to wear a T-shirt with the slogan and number of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and to participate in a conversation about the second round of the elections. The event took place on Thursday (20), during the workers’ lunch break.

The case adds to the wave of complaints of electoral harassment received by the Public Ministry of Labor this year, which worsened after the first round. According to the entity’s balance sheet released this Friday, 1,112 complaints were received across the country – 295 of them from Minas Gerais, which leads the ranking.

The action took place in Betim (municipality in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte) in the companies Serradão and Frigobet, which are from the same group. The conversation was attended by Bolsonar federal deputy Mauro Lopes (PP-MG).

One employee told the Sheet that the meatpacker also promised to donate a ham for each employee who takes the voting slip on the Monday following the second round (31) if Bolsonaro is reelected. The man chose not to identify himself for fear of losing his job.

Videos obtained by the report show employees gathered in the company’s courtyard dressed in a green and yellow T-shirt over their white uniform. Some are wearing caps, helmets and masks.

Employees reported that the T-shirt was distributed during lunch hours. In it, Bolsonaro’s slogan appears —”Brazil above all, God above all”—and the president’s number at the polls.

In the videos, you can hear the national anthem and a man talking about closing churches. In another recording, a person claims that they “killed” the mayors of Santo André (SP) and Campinas (SP), because they “fight among themselves”.

The murders of former mayors Celso Daniel (PT) and Antônio da Costa Santos (PT), known as Toninho do PT, are often cited by Bolsonaro supporters in attacks on opponents. The investigations did not point to the participation of PT members in the crimes.

Another video shows deputy Mauro Lopes speaking from the top of a staircase. “I, as a federal deputy, have worked a lot for our country. I know the responsibility at this time of the election. [Estou] 28 years in the National Congress. I went through several presidents of the Republic”, he says.

Sought by the report, the federal deputy said that about 2,000 people participated in the act, that he has done it in all meatpacking plants in Minas Gerais and that he will also ask for votes for Bolsonaro in bus companies.

“There were 2,000 people there. The owner of the meatpacking plant put on 2,000 shirts and summoned everyone. The movement was beautiful. There are 81 meatpackers in the Southeast, they are all supporting Bolsonaro. Asking for a vote. We are in the middle of an election,” he said.

The deputy denied, however, that he or the owner of the meatpacking plant had promised a ham for the employees if Bolsonaro wins the elections. During the conversation, Lopes changed his version about the delivery of t-shirts and said, finally, that he was the one who made the donation.

“Promise of ham? Negative. I was there. There was none of that, no. What nonsense is this? The only thing that happened was asking Bolsonaro for a vote. Nothing else. They received me very well. I donated the shirts.” , said.

“The Public Ministry of Labor has nothing to do with this. I go anywhere. I ask for a vote in the middle of the street, I ask for a vote at the meatpacking plant, with the garbage collector. I ask everyone to vote. I ask for a vote”, said the deputy.

The owner of the refrigerator is rural producer and entrepreneur Silvio Silveira, president of Afrig (Association of Refrigerators of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Distrito Federal).

The report was unable to contact the person in charge of the slaughterhouse. Afrig stated that it was not authorized to give Silvio Silveira’s phone number and suggested that he be contacted in its companies.

THE Sheet called the companies twice, but employees said that only the site manager is authorized to speak and that she did not go to work this Friday (21).

Lawyer Fernando Neisser, a member of Abradep (Brazilian Academy of Electoral and Political Law), sees signs of at least two illegalities in the case: electoral propaganda and coercion. The legislation prohibits electoral propaganda in so-called common-use goods, which include private establishments.

“A second illegality is the crime of electoral coercion, which is when you use the money you have to make someone vote or not vote for a certain person. And there is no doubt that the employment relationship generates this position of authority capable of constituting a crime of electoral coercion”, he says.

“Boss publicly embarrassing an official into expressing support for a candidate is nothing like the situation of an ordinary citizen arguing with another on the street and campaigning. Even if you don’t have an explicit threat, that implicit threat is recognized.”

A document from the MPT (Ministério Público Trabalho) prepared in the face of the increase in cases of electoral harassment states that employers should not “carry out political demonstrations in the work environment and make reference to candidates in work instruments, uniforms or any other clothing”.

The difference between former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Bolsonaro in Betim was only 807 votes in the first round. The PT received 106,684 votes, 45.78% of the total. Bolsonaro already had 105,877 votes, 45.43%.

State with the second largest electoral college in the country, Minas Gerais became the main target of the two candidates. MPT figures show that the place leads the number of complaints of electoral harassment, with practically 1 in 4 cases registered.

The second state with the most cases, Paraná, has less than half: 123. 104 companies are involved, according to the MPT. Santa Catarina appears in third place with 113 complaints in 95 companies.