USA: Child labourers found in Hyundai factory with documented history of health & safety violations
Summary
Date Reported: 22 Jul 2022
Location: United States of America
Companies
SMART - Employer , Hyundai Motor (part of Hyundai Kia Motor) - BuyerOther
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 3 - Guatemala , Manufacturing: General , Gender not reported )Issues
Child labour , Dismissal , Occupational Health & SafetyResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Reuters
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: In a statement sent after Reuters first published its findings on Friday, Hyundai said it "does not tolerate illegal employment practices at any Hyundai entity. We have policies and procedures in place that require compliance with all local, state and federal laws." It didn't answer detailed questions from Reuters about the findings. SMART, in a separate statement, said it follows federal, state and local laws and "denies any allegation that it knowingly employed anyone who is ineligible for employment." The company said it relies on temporary work agencies to fill jobs and expects "these agencies to follow the law in recruiting, hiring, and placing workers on its premises." SMART didn't answer specific questions about the workers cited in this story or on-the-job scenes they and other people familiar with the factory described. An investigation was launched in response to Reuters reporting. The children were enrolled for the upcoming school term.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 22 Jul 2022
Location: United States of America
Companies
SMART - EmployerOther
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: 40
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 40 - Mexico , Manufacturing: General , Gender not reported )Issues
Contract SubstitutionResponse
Response sought: No
Action taken: SMART in court documents called the allegations in the suit "baseless" and "meritless".
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 16 Dec 2022
Location: United States of America
Companies
Hyundai Motor (part of Hyundai Kia Motor) - Buyer , Ajin Industrial - EmployerOther
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: 10
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 10 - Location unknown - Sector unknown , Gender not reported )Issues
Child labourResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Reuters
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Ajin said their policy forbid the hiring of any worker not of legally employable age. The company said “to the best of our knowledge,” they hadn't hired underage workers. Hyundai said it has canceled its plans to cut off suppliers where minors have worked. Two of its suppliers, SMART and SL, have taken “corrective actions” to fire staffing agencies they found problematic, it said. Noting the “important economic role” that parts makers play in many small Alabama towns, Hyundai added, “additional oversight is a better course at this time than severing ties with these suppliers.”
Source type: News outlet
"Exclusive: Hyundai subsidiary has used child labor at Alabama factory", 22 July 2022
A subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co has used child labor at a plant that supplies parts for the Korean carmaker's assembly line in nearby Montgomery, Alabama, according to area police, the family of three underage workers, and eight former and current employees of the factory.
Underage...have recently worked at a metal stamping plant operated by SMART Alabama LLC, these people said. SMART, listed by Hyundai in corporate filings as a majority-owned unit, supplies parts for some of the most popular cars and SUVs built by the automaker in Montgomery, its flagship U.S. assembly plant...
... Hyundai said it "does not tolerate illegal employment practices at any Hyundai entity. We have policies and procedures in place that require compliance with all local, state and federal laws." It didn't answer detailed questions from Reuters about the findings.
SMART...said it follows federal, state and local laws and "denies any allegation that it knowingly employed anyone who is ineligible for employment." The company said it relies on temporary work agencies to fill jobs and expects "these agencies to follow the law in recruiting, hiring, and placing workers on its premises."...
Reuters learned of underage workers at the Hyundai-owned supplier following the brief disappearance in February of a Guatemalan migrant child from her family's home in Alabama.
The girl, who turns 14 this month, and her two brothers, aged 12 and 15, all worked at the plant earlier this year and weren't going to school, according to people familiar with their employment. Their father, Pedro Tzi, confirmed these people's account in an interview with Reuters.
Police in the Tzi family's adopted hometown of Enterprise also told Reuters that the girl and her siblings had worked at SMART. The police, who helped locate the missing girl, at the time of their search identified her by name in a public alert...
Pedro Tzi's children...were among a larger cohort of underage workers who found jobs at the Hyundai-owned supplier over the past few years...
Several of these minors, they said, have foregone schooling in order to work long shifts at the plant, a sprawling facility with a documented history of health and safety violations, including amputation hazards...
After the disappearance generated local news coverage, SMART dismissed a number of underage workers, according to two former employees and other locals familiar with the plant. The sources said the police attention raised fears that authorities could soon crack down on other underage workers...
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