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Workers at Carolo Plant in Pontal Did Not Receive Severance Payments, Salaries, and Benefits Such as Food Allowance and Health Insurance While the Company Faces Lawsuits for Million-Dollar Debts and Criminal Investigations for Irregularities.
At least 350 workers from the Carolo Plant, located in Pontal, in the Ribeirão Preto region, São Paulo, were dismissed without receiving the severance payments owed, according to information released by the Sugar Industry Workers’ Union.
The layoffs were confirmed this week, and the workers have outstanding issues that go beyond contractual terminations, including delays of at least three months in the payment of benefits such as food allowance and the suspension of workers’ health insurance, according to the union’s report.
Antônio Vitor, president of the union, gave an interview to EPTV and detailed the situation: “From the termination, they received nothing. Moreover, there is still a delayed payroll”, stating that the legal deadline of ten days after the termination date for payment of severance benefits had already been exceeded without any action from the company.
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The severance payments provided by law include notice period, proportional 13th salary, proportional vacation and the release of 40% of the Severance Indemnity Fund (FGTS), amounts that the dismissed workers are still waiting to receive without a defined timeline for resolution.
Suspended Health Insurance and Embezzlement, According to the Union
In addition to the pending terminations, the union president reported a serious irregularity related to the workers’ health insurance: according to Antônio Vitor, the company deducted the contribution from the employees’ salaries every month but did not forward the amount to the medical plan responsible for coverage.
“In fact, it’s embezzlement because it deducted from the employee and did not forward it to the medical plan”, said the union member in an interview, classifying the practice as a crime that should be investigated by the competent authorities, in addition to the ongoing labor lawsuits.
The situation of benefits had been deteriorating for at least three months prior to the layoffs, a period during which the workers continued to provide services to the plant without full access to the benefits for which they had financially contributed with direct deductions from their monthly payroll.
Protest in Front of the Plant Gathers Dismissed Workers
On March 6, about 50 workers gathered in front of the Carolo Plant facilities to protest against the delays in payments and demand the resolution of labor issues, in a demonstration organized by the union in the Ribeirão Preto region.
The public act highlights the level of dissatisfaction among the dismissed workers, who, in addition to facing job loss, find themselves deprived of financial resources that would be essential for transitioning to a new job in the already pressured regional market affected by the widespread crisis in the sugar-energy sector.
However, the administration of the Carolo Plant could not be reached for clarification regarding the accusations, and the company did not publicly comment on the allegations made by the union or the circumstances that led to the mass layoffs recorded this week.
Search and Seizure of R$ 50 Million in Agricultural Machinery
The financial crisis of the Carolo Plant is not recent. In November of last year, the unit was the target of a warrant for search and seizure for repossession of agricultural machinery valued at R$ 50 million, filed by a company that claimed non-payment of rental fees for the equipment since May 2025.
The legal action revealed that the plant had accumulated significant debts with suppliers and equipment lessors, suggesting that the financial difficulties that culminated in this week’s mass layoffs had been building up over months without effective recovery measures being implemented by the company’s management.
Furthermore, the situation became even more serious with the revelation that the Carolo Plant was cited in the investigations of Operation Hidden Carbon, a criminal inquiry raising suspicions about irregularities in the sugar-energy sector, and specific details regarding the Pontal unit have yet to be publicly clarified by the responsible authorities.
The case exposes the fragility of a segment facing increasing economic pressures, which has direct repercussions on production line workers, who are often the last to be informed about the financial difficulties of companies and the first to absorb the consequences of crises in the sugar-energy sector.
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