Adecco Recursos Humanos Argentina S.A. recently agreed to compensate workers in 'slave labor' conditions that it contracted out to a Citrusvil lemon farm. Despite this concession the company denies responsibility for the inhumane conditions of workers, website Eldiario24.com reported.

Adecco has claimed it was not its responsibility to provide decent housing to the workers, who were found crammed into a room during a recent raid in the province of Tucumán.

Adecco attorney Agustín Gollan told a hearing the company did not fail to comply with the labor legilation in force at any time, while rejecting allegations of 'employment injury', the story reported.

He said the company had decided to pay the workers a 'voluntary bonus' to compensate them for food and housing needs.

"I wouldn't contemplate the obligation of providing decent housing for workers to be binding for my principal (Adecco), neither in the collective agreement 271/96 nor under the Labor Contract Law," he was quoted as saying.

Tucumán Citrus Association (ATC) president Roberto Sánchez Loria denied there were many cases like this in the province's citrus industry.

"To me this is a surprise, especially because in citrus it is rare that worker camps are put up, because in these farms lemons are harvested in a haul and then workers are transferred to another farm. There's a lot of personnel mobility in this activity," Sánchez Loria was quoted as saying.

Tucumán is the world's largest lemon exporting region.

Related story: Abused Argentine lemon workers to receive compensation

Photo: Adecco

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