The Labor Division on Thursday sued Hyundai over the usage of little one labor in Alabama, holding the automotive producer chargeable for the employment of kids in its provide chain, together with a 13-year-old woman who labored as much as 60 hours per week making automotive components.
Within the go well with, filed in a federal court docket in Montgomery, Ala., the division stated Hyundai was chargeable for the employment of kids at a Good Alabama manufacturing facility in Luverne, Ala., which produces components like physique panels which might be shipped to a Hyundai manufacturing facility in Montgomery. The go well with additionally claimed a staffing company, Greatest Follow Service, recruited the youngsters to work on the provider’s plant.
In an announcement, Hyundai stated little one labor was “not according to the requirements and values we maintain ourselves to as an organization.” It added that the Labor Division used “an unprecedented authorized idea that will unfairly maintain Hyundai accountable for the actions of its suppliers.”
Good didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Representatives of Greatest Follow Service, which is now not in enterprise, couldn’t be reached for remark.
From July 2021 to February 2022, a 13-year-old woman labored on the Good plant, the place she was recruited to work by Greatest Follow Service, the go well with claimed. The go well with additionally contended that two different kids had been employed on the plant.
The Labor Division stated that by the employment of kids at its provider, Hyundai was in violation of the “scorching items” provision of the Honest Labor Requirements Act, which prevents the interstate commerce of products “that had been produced in violation of the minimal wage, extra time or little one labor provisions” of that regulation.
“Corporations can not escape legal responsibility by blaming suppliers or staffing corporations for little one labor violations when they’re in actual fact additionally employers themselves,” stated Seema Nanda, the Labor Division’s chief authorized officer, in an announcement Thursday.
The go well with comes after investigations by Reuters and The New York Occasions documented the usage of little one labor by the suppliers of automotive corporations. In 2022, Reuters discovered that Good Alabama had used little one labor at its facility, and that Kia, which is a part of the identical South Korean conglomerate as Hyundai, had additionally used little one labor within the South. A 2023 investigation by The Occasions discovered kids employed on the suppliers of Basic Motors and Ford Motor.
Hyundai imports lots of its automobiles from South Korea however has made huge investments in factories within the South, spending almost $8 billion on an electrical car plant in Georgia. The United Vehicle Staff union has stated it hopes to arrange employees at Hyundai’s Montgomery plant.
