12-year-olds found working at Hyundai subsidiary in US
A subsidiary for Hyundai in the US state of Alabama has been caught using 12-year-old children to work at a factory that supplies auto parts to the Korean automaker’s assembly line.
Key points:
- The three siblings found working in the factory were 12, 13 and 15 and did not attend school
- A spokesman for the Alabama Department of Labor said it would coordinate with the US Department of Labor and other agencies to investigate
- One former worker said there were around 50 underage workers between different factory shifts
The underage staff worked at a metal stamping plant operated by SMART Alabama LLC, according to local police.
SMART, listed by Hyundai in the company’s filing as a majority-owned unit, supplies parts for some of the most popular cars and SUVs made by the automaker at Montgomery, its flagship assembly plant in the US.
In a statement, SMART said it follows federal, state and local laws and “denies allegations that it knowingly employs anyone who does not qualify for the job”.
The company said it relied on temporary employment agencies to fill jobs and expects “these agencies to follow the law in recruiting, hiring and placing workers in their place”.
A spokesman for the Alabama Department of Labor said it would coordinate with the US Department of Labor and other agencies to investigate.
In a statement, Hyundai said it “does not tolerate illegal employment practices in any Hyundai entity”.
“We have policies and procedures that require compliance with all local, state, and federal laws,” the company said.
Reuters’ findings on underage workers came to light after the brief disappearance of a Guatemalan migrant child from his family home in February.
The girl, who is 14 months old, and her two brothers, aged 12 and 15, all worked in factories earlier this year and did not attend school, according to people familiar with their jobs.
Alabama law, however, requires children 17 and under to be enrolled in school.
The children, who have now signed up for the upcoming school term, are among a larger group of underage workers who have found work at Hyundai-owned suppliers over the past few years, according to former and current employees and labor recruiters.
Some of these minors, they said, had left school to work long shifts at the factory, a sprawling facility with a documented history of health and safety violations, including the dangers of amputation.
Disclosure of child labor in Hyundai’s US supply chain could spark consumer backlash, regulations and the reputation of one of the world’s most powerful and profitable automakers.
A former SMART worker, an adult migrant who left for other jobs in the auto industry last year, said there were about 50 underage workers between different factory shifts, adding that he knew some of them personally.
“Consumers should be outraged,” said David Michaels, former assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“They should know that these cars are being built, at least in part, by workers who are children and need to go to school rather than risk their lives and limbs because their families desperately need an income.”
At a time of US labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, labor experts say there is an increased risk that children, especially undocumented migrants, could end up in hazardous and illegal workplaces for minors.
Although staffing firms have helped fill national industry jobs, they have often been criticized by labor advocates because they have allowed large employers to outsource responsibility for checking employee eligibility for work.
Reuters/ABC
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