A subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co, LUVERNE, Alabama has used child labour at a plant that supplies parts for the Korean carmaker's assembly line in nearby Montgomery, Alabama, according to area police.
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. SMART, listed by Hyundai in corporate filings as a majority-owned unit, supplies parts for Hyundai’s flagship U.S. assembly plant.
Hyundai in a statement on Friday said it "does not tolerate illegal employment practices at any Hyundai entity. We have policies and procedures in place that require compliance with all local, state and federal laws." It didn't answer detailed questions from Reuters about the findings in this story.
SMART, in a separate statement, said it follows federal, state and local laws and "denies any allegation that it knowingly employed anyone who is ineligible for employment." The company said it relies on temporary work agencies to fill jobs and expects "these agencies to follow the law in recruiting, hiring, and placing workers on its premises."
SMART didn't answer specific questions about the workers cited in this story or the on-the-job scenes they and other people familiar with the factory described.
Reuters learned of underage workers at the Hyundai-owned supplier following the brief disappearance in February of a Guatemalan migrant child from her family's home in Alabama.
The girl, who turns 14 this month, and her two brothers, aged 12 and 15, all worked at the plant earlier this year and weren't going to school, according to people familiar with their employment. Their father, Pedro Tzi, confirmed these people's accounts in an interview with Reuters. The police, who helped locate the missing girl, at the time of their search, identified her by name in a public alert. Reuters did not use her name in the article as she is a minor.
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