ALABAMA, USA — In response to growing concern about Hyundai’s impact on local communities, labor and community called on Hyundai Motor America CEO José Muñoz to negotiate a binding Community Benefits Agreement "that ensures safe, family-wage jobs while addressing local community needs, at Hyundai and Kia, and in their supply chains."
Among the groups calling for change are Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Alabama Arise, Alabama Forward, United Auto Workers, Faith in Action Alabama, Poor People's Campaign, Alabama AFL-CIO, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Coosa Riverkeeper, United Auto Workers, Central Alabama Labor Council, and more.
In a letter to Muñoz, the groups asked for an agreement to "enshrine their high-road commitment to workers and their communities in an enforceable agreement as New Flyer of America (another vehicle manufacturer) recently did in Anniston, Alabama." Jobs to Move America, the group behind the letters, said, "the agreement would help build lasting prosperity for local communities by creating high-road commitments to workers and ensuring accountability measures are in place to uphold safety and labor standards." A similar call was made in a September 2022 letter.
The second letter came after a Reuters report of child labor in Alabama plants that employed children as young as 12 years old and other workers’ rights violations committed by Hyundai suppliers in the U.S. and abroad. The U.S. Department of Labor is currently conducting investigations into two Hyundai suppliers for child labor exploitation.
The letter states: “Hyundai will ultimately employ more than 30,000 workers in the US, directly or through joint venture partners with its plants in Alabama and Georgia. Hyundai also has a vast supply chain that includes more than 60 plants and many more workers in both states. These facilities will transform our communities, and we are faced with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure that this transformation is for the best. We are deeply concerned about Hyundai’s recent track record with child labor in its supply chain in the US; allegations of immigrant rights abuses and racial discrimination against suppliers; use of prison labor by suppliers, and retention of an irresponsible contractor in the building of the metaplant.”
The letter also calls for Hyundai CEO Muñoz to meet with coalition in September 2023.
