Another case of child labor at a Hyundai parts plant in Alabama

[JohnnyRingo]

Isn't this supposed to be gone with the age of the robber barons? Sometimes I wonder if this is the same country I grew up in. Hyundai is probably doing this in Alabama because there are laws against it in Korea.

Hyundai, Kia parts supplier in Alabama fined for child labour
The US Department of Labor found workers aged 13-15 at a parts supplier to automakers Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp and fined the firm.


Authorities found children as young as 13 working at a Korean-operated parts supplier to automakers Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp, and have fined the company and a labour recruiter, the US Department of Labor and the Alabama Department of Labor said on Tuesday.

In August, authorities accused Alexander City, Alabama-based SL Alabama in federal court of violating child labour laws.

The action against SL Alabama, which supplies lights and mirrors for Hyundai and Kia assembly plants in the United States’ South, came following a July Reuters article that documented child labour practices at another auto parts supplier in the state, Hyundai-owned SMART Alabama LLC.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) said in a release that workers aged 13-15 were found at the SL Alabama plant and said it had fined the company, a unit of Korea’s SL Corp, around $30,000. SL Alabama agreed to implement new monitoring and training programmes, the federal regulator said. DOL said it also obtained a court order to prevent the plant from “shipping or delivering” any goods produced in violation of federal child labour laws.

“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.

More here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/11/hyundai-kia-parts-supplier-in-alabama-fined-for-child-labor

The news here is that they finally got their wrist slapped with fines.

Edited to add:

As I understand child labor laws, they prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from working in manufacturing plants where a substantial risk of injury or death is present. Textile mills, plastic molds, and assembly lines are nothing a child should be around. Even if they just sweep up or pack boxes, there is a lot of heavy equipment like towmotors and high lifts moving around.

There is a clause that allows for farm work that can be just as dangerous, but that was put in by lobbyists who argued that privately owned farms may need family members to help out to survive. I believe it's still against the law for Smithfield to hire junior high students to work the bulldozer in the shit pits.

They like to hire children because they don't qualify for minimum wage or benefits. The answer is to offer a decent paycheck and hire adults.

[dchill]

1. Can we just say that Democrats don't approve of...

...children at labor OR in labor? This is WAY beyond.

[Roy Rolling]

2. "Job Creators"

Last edited Sat Oct 15, 2022, 05:16 AM - Edit history (1)

I sense a meme coming on.

And here it is….

[democratic2021]

5. thanks

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Sounds like a Newt Get-rich scheme

That fucker belongs in prison for helping to plan the insurrection among other egregious crap that he has done over the past 3 decades.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. "Hyundai is probably doing this in Alabama because ..."

Hyundai is probably doing this in Alabama because ...

It's not Hyundai doing this. It's the firm SL Alabama.

Authorities found children as young as 13 working at a Korean-operated parts supplier to automakers Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp, and have fined the company and a labour recruiter, the US Department of Labor and the Alabama Department of Labor said on Tuesday.

In August, authorities accused Alexander City, Alabama-based SL Alabama in federal court of violating child labour laws.

From the source:

News Release

FEDERAL COURT ORDERS HYUNDAI, KIA AUTO PARTS MANUFACTURER TO STOP EMPLOYING MINORS ILLEGALLY, END ‘OPPRESSIVE’ CHILD LABOR LAW VIOLATIONS

Alexander City employer allowed minors under 16 to work in automotive plant

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order to stop an Alexander City manufacturer of Hyundai and Kia auto parts from employing 13-, 14- and 15-year-old workers illegally, and to prevent the company from shipping or delivering any goods produced in violation of federal child labor laws.

In a Sept. 29, 2022, consent judgment, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama permanently enjoined SL Alabama LLC from violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions and from shipping any goods produced within 30 days of a child labor violation. This action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Labor’s Child Labor Enforcement office and Alabama’s Office of the Attorney General.

“Our investigation found SL Alabama engaged in oppressive child labor by employing young workers under the minimum age of 14, and by employing minors under 16 in a manufacturing occupation,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “Employers are responsible for knowing who is working in their facilities, ensuring that those individuals are of legal working age, and that their employment complies with all federal, state and local labor laws.”

The consent judgment also requires SL Alabama to provide training materials to employees and subcontractors or other entities that provide workers to the Alexander City site to ensure child labor standards compliance. The company must also hire a third-party company to provide quarterly child labor training to all management personnel and subcontractors for a three-year period. Finally, SL Alabama must impose sanctions – including termination or suspension – on any management or subcontractors found responsible for child labor violations. In addition to the judgment in this matter, the Wage and Hour Division assessed, and SL Alabama paid, a $30,076 civil money penalty to address the child labor violations.

“The U.S. Department of Labor acted swiftly to protect workers as young 13, 14 and 15 years old from harm and prevent SL Alabama from employing these minors in hazardous occupations,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Tremelle I. Howard in Atlanta. “We will continue to take action and use all tools at our disposal to ensure young workers’ safety and well-being is not jeopardized by employers who fail to comply with the law.”

The FLSA prohibits the employment of minors in hazardous occupations and makes it illegal for employers to ship products originating from any worksite in which child labor violations have been detected, pursuant to Sections 15(a)(1) and 12(a) of the Act. Under the FLSA, the department can seek a court order to prevent the interstate shipment of goods that were produced in violation of the minimum wage, overtime or child labor provisions of the FLSA. The order can apply to the employer who produced the goods and to anyone in possession of the goods.

Established in 2003, SL Alabama LLC employs approximately 650 workers in the Alexander City area. The employer manufactures headlights, rear combination lights and side mirrors for Hyundai and Kia. The company also operates SL Tennessee in Clinton, Tennessee, and Michigan-Engineering Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Learn more about federal child labor laws.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the division. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free.

Agency: Wage and Hour Division
Date: October 11, 2022
Release Number: 22-1738-ATL

Media Contact: Eric R. Lucero
Phone Number: 678-237-0630
Email: [e-mail]

Media Contact: Erika Ruthman
Phone Number: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

[kcr]

7. Hyundai cannot use the excuse that they didn't know

Which is why they're being told to stop. It's right there in your citation.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. The employer in question is SL Alabama LLC.

"Employers are responsible for knowing who is working in their facilities ..."

{snip}

“The U.S. Department of Labor acted swiftly to protect workers as young 13, 14 and 15 years old from harm and prevent SL Alabama from employing these minors in hazardous occupations,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Tremelle I. Howard in Atlanta.

[kcr]

11. Yes

And Hyundai was buying from them.

[Samrob]

6. I'll just say this.

I don't know anything about their working conditions.

There are a lot teens who need work to help support their families thru this economic crunch in which price gougers are seldom, if ever, called out for anything.

In the past two years, my teen grandchildren would have been delighted to work almost anywhere since their dad died of pancreatic cancer and their mom lost their home and is still struggling. And no, even with my help and the SSI she receives she can barely make it.

If the working conditions were really bad, a more hefty fine should have been imposed.

Perhaps child labor laws might be tweaked to ensure that some employment is available to teens who are able to do apprentice type jobs?

[kcr]

9. The fact that people need work

is not a license for people to be exploited.

[scarletlib]

12. I understand their wish to help support the family but what about school.

Uneducated adults probably will not fare well in the future.

[Samrob]

13. No one said they should be able to work and not have to attend school.

Were these jobs permanent, yearly jobs, summer employment, part-time week-end jobs? I don't know. I was just offering another perspective based on personal experience. My teen grandchildren of whom I was speaking are now 16 and 17 and were delighted to be gainfully employed during the summer. They are both back in school now. The 17 yr-old works part-time on Saturday and Sundays. The 16 not working at all.

I am one who believes that apprentice jobs should be available more often for teens. We are losing a couple of generations of citizen skills in the skilled labor market. Sadly most High Schools do not offer these courses anymore. When I was in junior and senior high at least all the boys were required to take two years of "shop" as it was called then while everyone was required to take two years of typing. I remember two girls asking to be allowed to take "shop" but they were denied.

[scarletlib]

14. Weekends? Or evenings?

Night time work = tired kids in the morning.

Please understand I am not condemning the kids for trying their best.
In a decent, fair society, country this should not be something that happens to our children.

A decent society/country would be supporting this family with financial and other assistance.

[kcr]

15. Well, one way we can know

That these weren't just educational summer job vocational training apprenticeships is by looking at the complaint by the federal government.

[blueinredohio]

8. That's why they need a union .

With a union that would not happen.

[dembotoz]

16. at times i have heard of high school programs where "at risk" youth have work study

"training" as they call it for high school credit at local factories and restaurants.

This is alabama after all. Might it be possible this was part of a school sanctioned program?

Maybe earn high school credit while learning life and job skills like showing up on time and working in a factory environment?

The kid gets a diploma of some sorts and a paycheck plus "life skills" and a positive work history WIN

The school gets a positive outcome in its stats...diploma and reduced student load WIN

The factory gets some community involvement pr--helping trouble youth avoid poverty, a pr bonanza and a plaque to hang in the office on the wall showing what great citizens they are WIN

There might even be funding available to pay for it all.

It is still child labor but dressed up nice