Tag: child labor

Newsom Protests ICE Raid on Marijuana Farm Allegedly Found Using Child Labor

California Gov. Gavin Newsom protested against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on a marijuana farm in his state this week that was allegedly found to have been using child labor.

Newsom reposted a video of the raid, calling President Donald Trump the “real scum” for enforcing the law.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott alleged that the farm had been found employing not only illegal aliens, but also “juveniles.”

Newsom was, in effect, trying to protect child labor.

The governor returned Thursday from a two-day swing to South Carolina, where he is testing the waters for a presidential run in three years’ time by introducing himself to voters in rural counties.

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Hyundai is sued after 13-year-old girl is found working on assembly line in Alabama car factory

The federal government has sued Hyundai after a 13-year old girl was found working on an assembly line. 

The  Department of Labor on Thursday sued the South Korean auto giant, an auto parts plant and a labor recruiter over illegal use of child labor in Alabama.

The complaint follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found a 13-year-old worked between 50 and 60 hours a week operating machines on an assembly line that formed sheet metal into auto body parts. 

The filing also seeks an order requiring the companies to relinquish any profits related to the use of child labor.

The defendants include Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC, SMART Alabama LLC and Best Practice Service, LLC. 

Hyundai said in a statement that it cooperated fully with the Labor Department and that it is unfair to be held accountable for the practices of its suppliers.

‘We are reviewing the new lawsuit and intend to vigorously defend the company,’ the statement said.

Reuters reported in 2022 that children, some as young as 12, worked for Hyundai subsidiary SMART and in other parts suppliers for the company in the Southern state.

SMART Alabama in Luverne, an automotive parts manufacturer that has supplied parts for Hyundai since 2003, reportedly fired multiple underage workers as publicity around the missing girl’s case heated up.

A former employee alleged that as many as 50 underage workers were employed across various shifts when he was working at the plant.

The accusations date back to a February, 2022, Amber Alert regarding Eidy Aracely Tzi Coc, who had briefly disappeared from her family’s home in the town of Enterprise alongside 21-year-old Alvaro Cucul.

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Some US states want to bring back child labor instead of giving adult workers better pay

Amid an ongoing push for higher wages by US workers, including union-building efforts and a national railway strike that was averted last December, some states are finding ways to undercut the working class.

One method, as Business Insider reports, is for the US to start allowing children aged 14-17 into the workforce. The federal government has said this practice is already increasing in an illicit fashion, too. 

In the last month, Republican lawmakers in Iowa and Minnesota have introduced legislation that would allow exceptions to existing child labor regulations. This is aimed at ameliorating the ongoing labor shortage in the US, which is also plaguing other countries, predominantly in the West.

According to Business Insider, the State of Minnesota “lost 90,000 workers alone during the pandemic, according to state demographers, making it one of the tightest labor markets in the country. Iowa’s not far behind with roughly 75,000 open jobs in December.” The proposed bills in these states would allow children to work more hours and “protect employers from liabilities due to sickness or accidents,” which could help specific industries like construction and meatpacking that are being hit hard in these states.

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