O novo trabalho escravo: contornos legais no âmbito nacional e cenário contemporâneo

Abstract

one of the most striking aspects of Classic Antiquity, studied since childhood, is the production system, maintained through slavery, a practice of exploitation in which exploited individuals were subdued to the point of being robbed of the most elementary rights of exploitation any human being. From evolution of thought and societies, structured in a more complex way, this production system was surpassed by others that, equally, as soon as obsolete, gave way to new forms of production, until reaching the current model. Equally, the legal framework was forced to evolve to keep up with the new demands of societies, including regarding labor law. In this new scenario, in which man is at the heart of the law, the exploitation of the labor force as it was in its beginnings is no longer admitted, which is why, until today, the end of all forms of exploitation that affects the dignity of the worker. However, there are currently workers in conditions so degrading that it was agreed to call them analogous to slavery or, as part of the doctrine prefers, contemporary slavery. That way, the present study aimed to understand what the legal contours of work are in conditions analogous to slavery, that is, how the legislation deals with the exploitation of the so-called contemporary slave labor, as well as analyzing the way the Brazilian Justice has been treating this subject. To this end, a bibliographic research was carried out, through which the evolution of the legislation concerning the fight against work in conditions like that of slaves was investigated, as well as the relationship between Labor Law and protection of human dignity, relating the concepts and lessons learned from judicial practice, based on the analysis of judgments in a specific case. From the study, it was possible to conclude that the judges have treated contemporary slave labor in line with what the doctrine prescribes, so that Labor Law appears, in contemporary times, as an important instrument for the preservation of the human dignity of the worker, removing conditions of exploitation analogous to slavery. Despite the efforts implemented, whether by the Legislative, Judiciary, scholars and other national and international organizations, workers are subjected to inconceivable conditions, as constantly denounced by the media, demonstrating that this cruel practice of dehumanization is still frequently observed in Brazil and in the world, which suggests the need to remain vigilant on the issue of contemporary slave labor.