Brazil's sugar and ethanol industry employs around 800,000 people. Adopting modern agricultural practices has also had important impacts on them by establishing new working condition standards, which are regulated by rigorous labor laws combating child labor and work conditions similar to slavery.
In 2009, the government, industry leaders and trade unions signed the National Commitment to Improve Labor Conditions on Sugarcane Plantations, which is a set of 30 labor practices that guide/regulate labor relations in the industry, safeguard the dignity and protect the rights of these workers.
These practices include hiring workers without any intermediaries; greater transparency in the calculation of compensation; support for temporary migrant workers; improvements in the conditions related to workplace health and safety, transportation and food; promoting the activities of trade unions and collective bargaining; and corporate responsibility actions in the community.
On its own initiative, the industry is also investing in technical training programs for workers such as the Program to Re-qualify Sugarcane Workers (RenovAção), which trains and re-qualifies 7,000 workers and members of the communities each year. The program primarily targets sugarcane cutters, whose work is being substituted by mechanized processes for planting and cutting the sugarcane.

Download - RenovAção - Professional training program