"Korean auto giant Hyundai investigating child labor in its U.S. supply chain", 22 October 2022

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 [...] 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. [...] 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.

In an interview before a Reuters event in Detroit on Wednesday, Munoz said Hyundai intends to "sever relations" with the two Alabama supplier plants under scrutiny for deploying underage labor "as soon as possible." In addition, Munoz told Reuters he had ordered a broader investigation into Hyundai's entire network of U.S. auto parts suppliers for potential labor law violations and "to ensure compliance."

[...] The executive also pledged that Hyundai would push to stop relying on third party labor suppliers at its southern U.S. operations. As Reuters reported, migrant children from Guatemala found working at SMART Alabama, LLC and SL Alabama had been hired by recruiting or staffing firms in the region. In a statement to Reuters this week, Hyundai said it had already stopped relying on at least one labor recruiting firm that had been hiring for SMART.

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