"Worked Like Slaves on Coffee Farms"...Brazilian Workers Sue Starbucks

IRA: "Workers Deceived into Harsh Conditions and Forced Labor"

Global coffee giant Starbucks has been sued by an international human rights organization. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of workers who were rescued after being forced to work in slave-like conditions on coffee farms in Brazil.

According to Yonhap News on April 25, citing the British daily The Guardian, International Rights Advocates (IRA), a human rights group based in Washington, D.C., has filed a lawsuit on behalf of eight laborers working on Brazilian coffee farms. The group alleges that Starbucks violated the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

One of the workers, referred to as 'John,' began working on a coffee farm as soon as he turned 16. The farm was a 16-hour bus ride from his home. However, the farm failed to honor the promised employment conditions. According to International Rights Advocates, John was forced to work without pay.

John reportedly worked from 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. under the hot sun, without even basic protective equipment such as boots or gloves. He was given only a 20-minute lunch break. Ultimately, he was freed from this exploitation only when Brazilian authorities raided the farm in June last year.

Terry Collingsworth, founder of IRA, stated, "Consumers pay outrageously high prices for a cup of Starbucks coffee, but that coffee is made from beans picked by these trafficked slave laborers," adding, "It is now time to hold Starbucks accountable for profiting from human trafficking."

Authorities also concluded in their report that John was subjected to 'child labor' in dangerous conditions, and that workers on the farm were trafficking victims living in conditions akin to slavery.

Reference photo to aid understanding of the article. Pixabay

Starbucks, on the other hand, issued a statement in response, saying that the lawsuit would yield no results.

The company explained that the coffee it purchases from Brazil comes from a small cooperative branch affiliated with Coocafe, which has only 19,000 members, representing a small proportion of the global market. Starbucks further claimed that all overseas farms from which it sources coffee comply with labor and environmental laws in accordance with the company's standards.

The company also stated, "Starbucks has never violated any ethical issues related to coffee bean procurement, including the protection of the human rights of farm workers who produce the coffee we purchase."

Meanwhile, Brazil has a dark history of growing into the world's largest coffee producer by forcing hundreds of thousands of Africans and Afro-Brazilians?descendants of sub-Saharan Africans brought through the slave trade from the 16th to 19th centuries?onto coffee plantations starting in the 19th century.