A Brazilian labor union has filed a class-action lawsuit against JBS, alleging the world’s largest poultry company subjected at least 76 people to working conditions it said were degrading.
The union’s suit said the working conditions were “analogous to slavery,” according to a Reuters report. Among those represented in the lawsuit were members of the Terena Indigenous community, who worked as third-party chicken catchers.
A union representative told the news organization that those shifts would last up to 14 hours. JBS stated that it had not yet been notified of the suit, but it would investigate the allegations.
In addition to JBS, four outsourcing companies were also named in the suit.
JBS, according to the WATTPoultry.com Top Poultry Companies Database, is the world’s largest poultry producer, having slaughtered 4.43 billion chickens during the past year. It’s key chicken brand in South America is Seara. It is also the majority shareholder of Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest poultry producer in the United States, which also operates in Mexico, as well as in Europe as the owner of Northern Ireland-based Moy Park.
