Hyundai Motor to Divest Alabama Subsidiary After Child Labor Allegations
24 February 2023 - 11:08PM
Dow Jones News
By Will Feuer
Hyundai Motor Co. said it plans to divest a subsidiary in
Alabama after investigating allegations that the auto parts plant
employed underage workers.
Hyundai Chief Executive Jaehoon Chang said Friday in a letter to
shareholders that it plans to sell its stake in SMART Alabama LLC,
which is majority-owned by Hyundai, while preserving jobs at the
plant. Last year, Reuters reported that the unit was said to be
using child labor, with some underage workers as young as 12 years
old, at a plant in Luverne, Ala.
Mr. Chang said SMART and another supplier, SL Alabama, have
"terminated their relationships with the third-party staffing
agencies who falsely certified that they had screened and cleared
underage individuals as being of legal age."
Audits conducted by an outside law firm "show that our suppliers
are now in full compliance with underage labor laws," Mr. Chang
said.
"Even though there were issues with third-party staffing
agencies that provided false documentation to these suppliers,
ultimately, the responsibility is with Hyundai to make sure all our
suppliers understand and meet our high global workforce standards,"
he said.
The company said its investigation found that its U.S. tier-one
suppliers were in full compliance with underage labor laws. Hyundai
said it is implementing new, more stringent workforce standards
throughout its supply chain.
Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 24, 2023 06:53 ET (11:53 GMT)
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