(Bloomberg) — Hyundai Group is coming under fire from organized labor for using a supplier to their non-union US plants that allegedly hired underage workers.
(Bloomberg) — Hyundai Group is coming under fire from organized labor for using a supplier to their non-union US plants that allegedly hired underage workers.
The United Auto Workers’ union called out Hyundai Motor Co.
and Kia Corp. on Thursday for the sister companies’ ties to an Alabama parts maker which the Department of Labor alleged earlier this week uses child labor.
“Exploitation of children is shameful in any circumstance, but it is especially distressing to see it take place at a supplier to a major automotive company such as Hyundai,” UAW President Ray Curry said in a statement.
The Department of Labor ordered SL Alabama LLC to cease production and shipment of components allegedly manufactured by children aged 13-15 years-old employed at its Alexander City, Alabama, parts facility, according to an Oct.
11 statement. The federal government fined SL Alabama LLC $30,076 and the Alabama Department of Labor levied a separate fine on the company and a temporary employment agency of $17,800 each for child labor violations.
Hyundai said it will work to monitor operations of its suppliers and noted in an emailed statement SL Alabama has “changed its leadership and introduced additional screening methods to ensure its labor practices are consistent with local, state and federal law.” SL Alabama and Kia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hyundai had previously said in July that it was “unaware of any evidence” of child labor being used at another Alabama parts facility, after Reuters reported Smart Alabama LLC employed immigrant workers as young as 12.
Smart Alabama has denied it knowingly employed anyone ineligible for employment.
The South Korean automaking group’s factories in Alabama and Georgia are not unionized, drawing a rebuke from President Joe Biden who asked Hyundai’s Executive Chairman Euisun Chung to reconsider at a meeting in May.
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