Child Labor Violations – Giant Car Company Exposed
(NewsReady.com) – On Monday, August 22, the US Department of Labor (DOL) filed suit against SL Alabama. The South Korean corporation SL Corp owns the company, which builds car parts for Hyundai, Kia, and other vehicle manufacturers. Now, the federal government is accusing the company of exploiting children.
The lawsuit claims the company has been violating child labor laws since November 2021 by employing children under 16. The factory, which manufactures side mirrors, headlights, and rear combination lights, admitted to Reuters that it had hired kids in the past. However, it alleged that it contracted a labor recruitment firm to find the underage workers.
The U.S. Department of Labor accused a Korean-owned auto parts maker and supplier of Hyundai of violating federal child labor laws at an Alabama factory, federal court filings reviewed by @Reuters show https://t.co/Q8l0NYOZZg
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 23, 2022
SL Alabama isn’t the only Hyundai supplier in the state to reportedly be in violation of labor laws. In a July exposé, Reuters accused SMART Alabama LLC of hiring kids as young as 12 to work at its metal stamping plant outside of Montgomery.
The manufacturer denied the allegations against it, claiming it never “knowingly” hired an underage child. It, too, told journalists that it doesn’t do its own hiring and instead uses a recruitment firm.
Neither SMART nor SL Alabama named the recruiters.
Hyundai released a statement after the DOL filed suit on Monday; it stated the company doesn’t “tolerate illegal employment practices” at any of the manufacturers it uses.
Copyright 2022, NewsReady.com
