Hyundai Motor's Alabama suppliers use prison labor, affecting wages, worker safety: report

Thousands of workers at Hyundai Motor’s auto parts suppliers in Alabama have allegedly faced stagnant wages and worsening working conditions, which the report attributes in part to the systematic use of prison labor, according to a new report from Columbia University's Labor Lab and Jobs to Move America (JMA). Prison labor for corporate profit is technically legal in the U.S. because inmates are paid. In practice, however, they earn far less than non-incarcerated workers, a disparity that Hyundai Motor’s U.S. suppliers are accused of exploiting to suppress overall wages, according to the report. Drawing on responses from more than 600 Alabama autoworkers, the report from the research center at Columbia University found that employees at Hyundai Motor-affiliated suppliers earn 10 to 15 percent less than their peers elsewhere in the U.S., even after accounting for factors such as education, race, gender and age. The report also highlights that workers in Hyundai’s supply chain experience more frequent safety hazards, wage theft, forced overtime, harassment and missed breaks than empWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times