“Brazil: loss of ‘dirty list’ sparks fears of worker exploitation as Olympics near-International Labour Organisation criticises suspension of list of firms using slave labour just as Brazil faces migrant worker influx for Olympic Games”, 2 March 2016

The loss of one of Brazil’s most fundamental tools against slave labour amid the country’s...recession...presents a serious risk of worker exploitation before the Olympic Games...Luiz Machado, national coordinator of Brazil’s anti-slavery programme at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), warns that the suspension of the so-called dirty list of companies caught using slave labour, combined with an extremely conservative congress and rising unemployment, creates the possibility for a rise in modern-day slavery...“While the increase in child labour shows up in government household surveys, slave labour is a much more invisible crime.”...[he said]...[He]...is also concerned that the Olympics could provide an opportunity for further exploitation. “Whenever you have one of these mega-events, there is always an increase in migration...[. M]igrants are particularly vulnerable to slave labour.”...[I]n November last year 11 workers contracted to build part of the Olympics media village were rescued from the degrading conditions of their living quarters by an anti-slavery taskforce...[and]...received...compensation. Launched in 2003, Brazil’s “dirty list” named companies that had been fined over the previous two years for using slave labour...[C]ompanies were...blacklisted, with state-backed banks unable to offer them loans, and sales of their products restricted...[I]n...2014, the supreme court ordered the labour ministry to suspend publication of the list, following a lawsuit filed by the Associação Brasileira de Incorporadoras Imobiliárias...“The ‘dirty list’ was one of the strongest tools against slave labour...It allowed us to bring the private sector and banks into the fight against slave labour...[ ,” said Leonardo Sakamoto, president of...Repórter Brasil]...In February, Repórter Brasil released the latest version of its own transparency list, drawn up following a freedom of information request...There are 340 companies on the list, but Sakamoto admits that it is far less comprehensive than the original “dirty list...[A]t least 18 construction companies, as well as cattle ranches, timber yards, farms and textile sweatshops...

[It refers to Lojas Renner and MRV Engenharia]