Brazilian factories have occupational health staff working in the prevention and treatment of diseases. However, pressured by the fear of looking bad in the eyes of management and losing their jobs, many workers do not go see a doctor to avoid having to submit a medical note and missing work. The high turnover of employees, mostly young people, also ends up hiding complaints about comfort and healthiness. “If you start feeling pain or injury, you are sent away immediately – under some other excuse, of course,” she regrets.

Despite the reports, the union representatives do not know the precise figures on illnesses or accidents at work in the factories, nor do they have records on absences or deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The almost unanimous answer was that “the company does not provide the union with data.”

To maintain high productivity levels, breaks for resting and using toilets are strictly controlled by those in charge of the factory yards. Toilets are locked and supervisors hold the keys, and facilities can be used a pre-established number of times, during a controlled period.

“We want to be able to go to the toilet whenever we feel like it,” says Delirio Ferreira Borges, a worker at Ramarim in Nova Hartz, Rio Grande do Sul state. The company is licensed to manufacture sneakers and football boots for Adidas. Asked by Repórter Brasil to comment on it, Ramarim had not replied until this article was published. This space is open for their views.

In this scenario of restriction, women face the strongest embarrassment, for reasons that vary from pregnancy to menstrual periods – which require more frequent toilet trips.

Working in Jequié, Bahia state, where there are assembly lines for the three major sports brands, Carlos André dos Santos – the president of the Union of Workers in Industries and Companies Manufacturing Products and Assembling Footwear of Bahia – claims to have seen degrading situations as colleagues “had their periods and were forced to keep working,” for example.

Inequality and harassment

On Nike"s website, the "canary" model – the Brazilian national team"s main jersey – costs almost R$ 700, which makes it virtually impossible for workers at the brand"s factories to buy it. According to a survey by Repórter Brasil, the average production line wage paid by Brazilian factories of the three main sports brands of the World Cup is R$ 1,400. But there are significant differences between the production hubs in Brazil"s South, Southeast and Northeast regions.

The highest wages in the industry are paid by Ramarim, a company located in Sapiranga, Rio Grande do Sul, and licensed to manufacture sneakers and football boots for Adidas: R$ 1,742.

The lowest wages are paid in Brazil"s Northeast, where there are industries manufacturing for the three brands, and interviewees said they earn R$ 1,240 a month.

This is the wage offered in Brejo Santo, Ceará, to employees at the factory of Dilly Nordeste Indústria de Calçados, which produces sneakers for Puma.

The manufacturer says that “the wages are set on a bargaining agreement with labour unions in each of the regions where the factories are located.” The full explanation can be read here. Puma had not sent its views until this article was published, but this space remains open.

The Union of Workers in the Footwear Industries of the State of Ceará is already campaigning to increase their monthly wage floor to R$ 1,300. “We are also demanding transportation stipend, because the company [Dilly] doesn"t offer it,” says Regina Lessa, the union"s treasurer.

The problem is that the union is located in the state capital Fortaleza, 500 kilometres away from the factory, making communication with its representatives difficult. As there is no representative at the factory, the union has to communicate with workers and conduct inspections of working conditions through a WhatsApp group – but the use of the telephone is not always allowed during working hours.

Lessa also reveals that Aniger"s unit in Quixeramobim, also in Ceará, which has been manufacturing shoes for Nike since 2001 through the Cocalqui Co-operative, does not acknowledge the Fortaleza-based union as the representative of workers at its plant. As a result, the employees are left without representation, according to Regina Lessa. Aniger and Cocalqui did not respond to Repórter Brasil"s attempts to contact.

Even where better wages are paid, employees" harassment by supervisors is an uncomfortable reality. “That is the main complaint of Dass Group workers,” says João Emerson Campos, president of the Footwear and Clothing Workers Union of Venâncio Aires and Mato Leitão. Dass provides services and items for Adidas, Nike and Puma at manufacturing plants in Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia.

Asked by Repórter Brasil, Dass said it prohibits threats and any kind of hostility between its employees. “The relationship and treatment between our associates must be based on dialogue and mutual respect.” The company"s full statement can be read here.

A similar situation is reported by the Secretary General of the Union of Workers in the Footwear Industry of Sapiranga and Region, Leandro Rodrigues dos Santos, where Ramarim (Adidas) is based in Rio Grande do Sul. While it pays the highest wages in the area, it has the most resignations – often due to harassment. “But when we want to take it further and make a police report, the workers give up because they are afraid,” he regrets. Ramarim did not comment.

Harmful, suspicious inaction by unions

There are cases, however, in which the very union will not follow up on workers" complaints. With approximately 4,000 employees, the Lupo factory in Araraquara, São Paulo, is the second largest Brazilian supplier of the Adidas, Nike and Puma. But when they had problems at work, three employees who prefer not to be named for fear of retaliation had to seek support from the metalworkers" union, of which their brothers and husbands were members, because the Clothing Workers Union maintained “a close relationship with the company"s management,” they said. When contacted, the Union of Workers in Textile Industries of Araraquara and Region did not provide Repórter Brasil with any explanation.

These factories are often the largest employers in small Brazilian towns, the source of income for entire families, which is why complaining to a law enforcement agency or a union is out of the question.

The labour reform contributed to this scenario insofar as companies no longer need to process contract termination through unions, which undermined the latter"s relevance.

“This was carefully planned, it"s not something random. But civil society only realizes it when the worker is neglected and has no one else to turn to,” criticizes Luís Alexandre de Faria, a labour inspector and head of the team in charge of Combating Slave Labour in the Fashion industry in the state of São Paulo.

Orchestrated dismantling

In Faria"s view, the current scenario is a response to the intensification of inspections that took place between 2010 and 2018, when there were large operations in the industry, which led unions, especially in São Paulo, to demand that authorities hold accountable the big brands that outsource their production for smaller brands and sub-outsource it to small workshops, many of which are irregular. “If the product belongs to your brand, then you are responsible for it,” he stresses.

For ten years, these operations had forced the brands to take measures to improve their supply chains, but also caused many factories to migrate from state capitals to smaller towns, making enforcement difficult. In Brazil, labour laws are enforced by federal inspectors. State capitals have their local offices, but they do not cover smaller municipalities, which may be served by the nearest municipality, sometimes 200 km away.

The situation at enforcement agencies deteriorated by the lack of exams to replace servants who retired. “It makes it difficult not only to respond to complaints, but also to analyse the supply chain with intelligence tools that would allow us to detect incidents regardless of the complaints,” he points out.

Repórter Brasil remains open to receive further clarifications from those mentioned in the report.

* João Diaz contributed to this article.