Lollapalooza SP Festival Organizers Accused of Hiring Slave Labor

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Men living in homeless shelters were hired by entertainment company Time For Fun (T4F) for R$50 per day to set up the stages and move heavy equipment for the Lollapalooza Festival which took place last weekend in São Paulo, claim an entertainment workers’ union in São Paulo. According to the union, this could be considered modern-day slave labor.

The Artists and Technicians Union of the State of São Paulo (Sated-SP) said it was filing suit with the São Paulo Prosecutor’s Office to denounce the organizers of the Lollapalooza Festival for recruiting homeless people to work in a situation akin to slavery, according to Folha de S. Paulo.

In a statement, Sated-SP repudiated the practice and apologized for not taking preventive action. According to the entity, the festival’s organizers have been the subject of complaint in the past years not only for Lollapalooza but also for other theatre and music events.

“Homeless people can work at all events and shows, as long as they are professionally qualified, get decent pay, and work in decent conditions,” stated Sated-SP on Wednesday.

The average ticket for just one day of the three-day festival was sold for approximately R$800 (a little over US$200), with VIP passes costing as much as R$1420 (over R$350)

This year’s edition of Lollapalooza São Paulo featured international artists Arctic Monkeys, Sam Smith, Lenny Kravitz, Twenty-One Pilots, and Kings of Leon.

The organization of the festival was the subject of a similar complaint last year when the People’s Pastoral of the Catholic Church denounced T4F for hiring the homeless to set up the festival for very little money.

Via a statement, the T4F said it has always respected the public, its business partners, and the legal standards for hiring. “The (Folha de S. Paulo) story, which deals with accusations by Sated-SP about the alleged recruitment of people in vulnerable situations in the assembly of stages, has no basis or evidence,” read the statement.