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☆ Department of Labor sues Hyundai over child labor
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

In a new complaint, the department alleges Best Practice, a staffing agency, sent the child to work at SMART Alabama, which provided car parts to Hyundai. The complaint alleges all three companies were responsible for employing the child. “We are reviewing the new lawsuit and intend to vigorously defend the company,” Hyundai said in a statement provided to CNN. The complaint, filed in an Alabama federal court, seeks an order requiring the companies to release any profits related to the use of child labor as well as an order to stop any future use of child labor. Hyundai and its suppliers had been the subjects of a series of investigations by news service Reuters into the use of child labor in Alabama.

Persons: Jessica Looman, ” Hyundai, “, Hyundai Organizations: CNN, United States Department of Labor, Hyundai, SMART Alabama, Fair Labor, Reuters Locations: Alabama, United States, America

☆ U.S. Accuses Hyundai and Two Other Companies of Using Child Labor
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Santul Nerkar | More About Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Labor Department said that through the employment of children at its supplier, Hyundai was in violation of the “hot goods” provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which prevents the interstate commerce of goods “that were produced in violation of the minimum wage, overtime or child labor provisions” of that law. “Companies cannot escape liability by blaming suppliers or staffing companies for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves,” said Seema Nanda, the Labor Department’s chief legal officer, in a statement Thursday. The suit comes after investigations by Reuters and The New York Times documented the use of child labor by the suppliers of car companies. In 2022, Reuters found that Smart Alabama had used child labor at its facility, and that Kia, which is part of the same South Korean conglomerate as Hyundai, had also used child labor in the South. The United Automobile Workers union has said it hopes to organize workers at Hyundai’s Montgomery plant.

Persons: ”, Seema Nanda Organizations: Smart, Best Practice Service, Labor Department, Hyundai, Fair Labor, Act, Labor, Reuters, The New York Times, Smart Alabama, Kia, The Times, General Motors, Ford Motor, The United Automobile Workers Locations: South Korea, Georgia, Hyundai’s Montgomery

The bill, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, follows a similar Democrat-led effort proposed this month in the Senate. The Department of Labor has also taken steps to increase enforcement of child labor violations and called on Congress to boost penalties. The Labor Department has seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations, with 835 companies found to have violated child labor laws in the last fiscal year. Under current federal law, the maximum civil monetary penalty for a child labor violation is $15,138 per child. In February, 33 Democratic lawmakers led by Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee signed a letter to the Labor Secretary urging immediate action to rid Hyundai's supply chain of child labor.

One of the plants where children worked, SMART Alabama LLC in rural Luverne, Alabama, is a direct Hyundai subsidiary. STATE AND FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONSFollowing Reuters' first story on child labor at SMART last July, as many as 10 Hyundai suppliers in Alabama have been under investigation by state or federal authorities for child labor violations, Reuters reported in December. In the shareholder letter, Chang reiterated that Hyundai was "discouraging" suppliers from relying on such staffing agencies in the future. He wrote that staffing firms who hired children to work at Hyundai supplier plants had provided false employee documentation. Earlier this month, thirty-three members of Congress urged DOL to seek strong and swift penalties against those responsible for child labor in the Hyundai supply chain.

In a letter addressed to Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, the group of Democratic lawmakers, led by Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee, pressed the department "to take immediate action to rid Hyundai's supply chain of child labor." The news agency reported that state and federal authorities were investigating as many as ten suppliers for potential child labor violations there. In their letter to Walsh, the lawmakers commended the Labor Department for its enforcement actions in the matter so far. After Reuters' first story about child labor at SMART last July, the department and Alabama state authorities launched a probe into the supplier. The lawmakers said they want the Labor Department to take further action because "additional automotive parts suppliers for Hyundai, mainly in Alabama, are also suspected of child labor violations."

"We share Congresswoman Sewell's view that the use of child labor is unacceptable," Hyundai said. Sewell's comments are the first from a high-ranking Alabama official on child labor problems in Hyundai's supply chain. The new actions by Hyundai and its discussions with regulators and lawmakers come after Reuters documented child labor in various Alabama auto plants making parts for Hyundai or Kia. The child labor reports have put a spotlight on Hyundai's growing operations in the United States. Regulatory fines for child labor, by contrast, can be relatively small.

☆ Take Five: Everything to play for
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Markets are hopeful the Federal Reserve will soon slow the pace of its aggressive rate hikes. The U.S. economy likely created 200,000 new jobs, a Reuters poll of economists forecasts found, in what would be the smallest gain since December 2020. Manufacturing indicators, mainly PMIs, due next week might attest to the weakness already seen across the economy. Inflation in the euro zone was 10.6% in October, more than five times the European Central Bank's 2% target. Indeed, the Fed may be getting ready to slow the pace of its rate hikes, but the ECB is not there yet.

☆ UAW wants U.S. to bar loans, subsidies for Hyundai over workplace issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 21 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Friday called on the Biden administration not to award any subsidies, loans or other taxpayer support until Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) agrees to address workplace issues. A Reuters investigative report in July documented children, including a 12-year-old, working at a Hyundai-controlled metal stamping plant in rural Luverne, Alabama, called SMART Alabama, LLC. The union called on Hyundai to instead "improve working conditions for the U.S. workers who make Hyundai vehicles." Hyundai is lobbying the Biden administration to revise a law approved in August that immediately barred electric vehicles outside North America from receiving $7,500 consumer tax credits. The UAW has previously sparred with Hyundai and unsuccessfully sought to organize workers at its Alabama plant and at other foreign-owned auto plants.

☆ Korean auto giant Hyundai investigating child labor in its U.S. supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN Business —Hyundai Motor Co, Korea’s top automaker, is investigating child labor violations in its U.S. supply chain and plans to “sever ties” with Hyundai suppliers in Alabama found to have relied on underage workers, the company’s global chief operating officer Jose Munoz told Reuters on Wednesday. Following the Reuters report, Alabama’s state Department of Labor, in coordination with federal agencies, began investigating SMART Alabama. Authorities subsequently launched a child labor probe at another of Hyundai’s regional supplier plants, Korean-operated SL Alabama, finding children as young as age 13. The executive also pledged that Hyundai would push to stop relying on third party labor suppliers at its southern U.S. operations. The letter said that the use of child labor violated international standards Hyundai committed to in its Human Rights Charter and its own code of conduct for suppliers.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A group that works with union pension funds is pressing Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) to respond to reports of child labor at U.S. parts suppliers, warning of potential reputational damage to the Korean automaker. In addition, the letter cited a recent federal and state investigation into children working at another Hyundai supplier in the state. Reuters first documented child labor practices at Hyundai-owned SMART Alabama LLC earlier this year. "Hyundai will continue to closely review the labor operations of its suppliers to ensure full compliance with all local, state and federal laws," Gabriel said in an email. "I think investors like us need to step out and say, 'the value of the fines is not capturing your risk even remotely.

A Reuters investigative report in July documented children, including a 12-year-old, working at a Hyundai-controlled metal stamping plant in rural Luverne, Alabama, called SMART Alabama, LLC. read moreFollowing the Reuters report, Alabama's state Department of Labor, in coordination with federal agencies, began investigating SMART Alabama. The executive also pledged that Hyundai would push to stop relying on third party labor suppliers at its southern U.S. operations. Munoz told Reuters: "Hyundai is pushing to stop using third party labor suppliers, and oversee hiring directly." SL and Smart Alabama did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In August, authorities accused Alexander City, Alabama-based SL Alabama in federal court of violating child labor laws. The action against SL Alabama, which supplies lights and mirrors for Hyundai and Kia assembly plants in the U.S. South, came following a July Reuters article that documented child labor practices at another auto parts supplier in the state, Hyundai-owned SMART Alabama LLC. SL Alabama agreed to implement new monitoring and training programs, the federal regulator said. "Our investigation found SL Alabama engaged in oppressive child labor," said Kenneth Stripling, DOL's Wage and Hours Division Director in Birmingham, Alabama, in the statement. Regulators said plant operators are accountable for child labor violations even when unauthorized employees are brought in by third-party recruiting firms.

[1/4] A Hyundai auto plant is seen from inside a Greyhound bus outside of Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., August 13, 2008. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonLUVERNE, Alabama, July 22 (Reuters) - 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 workers, in some cases as young as 12, have recently worked at a metal stamping plant operated by SMART Alabama LLC, these people said. In a "human rights policy" posted online, Hyundai says it forbids child labor throughout its workforce, including suppliers. Many of the minors at the plant were hired through recruitment agencies, according to current and former SMART workers and local labor recruiters.

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