[ニューヨーク／サンフランシスコ／デトロイト １９日 ロイター] – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor is investigating child labor issues in the U.S. supply chain and plans to cut ties with its Alabama parts subsidiary that was found to be using minors. A company executive said in an interview with Reuters.
Reuters reported in July that Hyundai Motor’s Alabama parts subsidiary, SMART Alabama, used many minors, including boys and girls who had immigrated from Guatemala, to work at a metal stamping site that involved dangerous work. Minors were recruited through staffing agencies and some were out of school due to long shifts.
Following the Reuters report, the Alabama Department of Labor is working with federal authorities to launch an investigation into the component plant. After that, another supplier factory was also investigated, and child labor was discovered.
Hyundai Motor Co. Chief Operating Officer Jose Munoz said he would “sever ties” with the two Alabama suppliers in question as soon as possible, saying the company’s entire network of U.S. parts suppliers would be working to comply with labor laws. He said he was ordered to conduct an investigation.
SOC Investment Group, which works with the union pension fund, sent a letter to Hyundai Motor on Wednesday asking it to address reports of child labor at its U.S. parts subsidiary.