A report by the Washington Post newspaper analyzed allegations about slavery-like work by BYD in Camaçari (BA)
The complaints about during the construction of the Chinese automaker BYD’s factory in Camaçari (BA) gained new international prominence with a report published this Saturday (March 14, 2026) by the North American newspaper Washington Post.
The report details the “conscious and systemic fraud” carried out by the automaker and its two Chinese contractors, China Jinjiang Construction Brazil and Tecmonta Intelligent Equipment Brazil. Here are the main themes mentioned:
- accommodation – cites 56 Chinese workers living in 2 low-rise 2-story buildings on Colorado Street. In one of the accommodations, 31 workers shared a single bathroom;
- impossibility of escaping – employees had their passports confiscated and were forced to carry out exhausting work. They slept locked in dormitories patrolled by armed guards;
- false promises – workers were promised visas, airline tickets, accommodation and food, as well as a salary of more than US$2,800 per month;
- negligence from BYD’s top management – employees stated that they had repeatedly alerted senior management at BYD Brasil, who responded by saying that the Brazilian government was on the company’s side. The president’s office denied the information to The Post and said he was committed to the “human rights of immigrants, national legislation, labor rights and strict supervision of working conditions”;
- outrage from Chinese companies – the companies publicly denied the allegations and blamed erroneous translations.
According to the Washington Postto produce the report, more than 5,000 pages of legal proceedings in Brazil and China were analyzed. In total, 41 people were interviewed, including Brazilian investigators, former and current BYD employees.
O Poder360 contacted BYD to hear the company’s side of the report, but received no response.
Remember the case
On December 23, 2024, a task force from the Public Ministry of Labor 163 workers in “conditions similar to those of slaves” and suspended part of the construction work for a BYD factory in Camaçari (BA). It was revealed that the workers were in precarious working conditions. Days later, another 57 Tonghe (now Tecmonta) employees were also found in similar conditions.
Investigations showed that all workers entered Brazil irregularly. The work visas were linked to specialized functions, but the activities carried out on construction sites did not correspond to the authorizations granted.
At the time, BYD said it received notification from the Public Ministry of Labor that the third-party construction company Jinjiang “he had committed serious irregularities” and then terminated the contract with Jinjiang. Here’s the from note from BYD (60 KB).
On May 27, 2025, the Public Ministry of Labor of Bahia the Chinese automaker. The action asked for compensation of R$257 million for collective moral damages. To end the process, MPT-BA closed a R$40 million agreement with BYD on December 26, 2025.
