5 ms·

SL Alabama told Reuters in a statement that a staffing agency had furnished some employees to the plant who were not old enough to work there. SL said it had co

SL Alabama told Reuters in a statement that a staffing agency had furnished some employees to the plant who were not old enough to work there. SL said it had cooperated with regulators, terminated its relationship with the staffing firm, agreed to fines and other corrective actions, and replaced the president of the facility. It sounds like JK USA will rightfully be destroyed by this. If it really was just a handful of kids employed by a sub sub contractor I don't see why everyone in the whole factory should lose their livelihoods. The parents need some counseling and a stern scaring too but I wouldn't push too hard on a family desperate enough to send their kids to a factory.

lettergram 4y ago
> The parents need some counseling and a stern scaring too but I wouldn't push too hard on a family desperate enough to send their kids to a factory. I started mowing lawns at 12. Pretty heavy machinery; massive spinning blade, could lose an arm! Luckily I had that opportunity, I was able to make money and pay for clothes. Learn responsibility, self-respect, etc. I do think child labor laws are there to protect children. However, we don’t know the circumstances and I think in most cases child labor laws do more harm than good. Here are some important details: > In a separate statement on Tuesday, Alabama’s state DOL said it had levied around $35,000 in total in civil penalties on SL Alabama and JK USA, a temporary labor recruiting firm. JK USA employed five minors between the ages of 13 and 16 at the plant, the state DOL said. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hyundai-kia-auto-parts-supplier-alabama-fined-child-labor-violations-2022-10-11/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hyundai-kia-auto-parts-supp... To me, it could be as simple as a few guys brought their kids who wanted to make an extra buck. They could have just been picking up metal scraps. We don’t know. What I can say is in high school I knew multiple people whos family worked in metal works and the kids would help out and get paid. Some kids were as young as 10, but everyone was safe and it appeared to be in everyone’s interest
- WastingMyTime89 4y ago
  Most sane countries in the world allow adolescents to work some time when school is not on or when doing an apprenticeship. Most don’t legally consider a kid mowing lawns for a stipend labour. There is a pretty major difference between that and doing work for an auto supplier while being staffed by a temp agency.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- warbler73 4y ago
- diordiderot 4y ago
  The children were trafficked
  - detaro 4y ago
    source?
    - shagie 4y ago
      https://www.al.com/news/2022/07/alabama-hyundai-supplier-child-labor-report-investigated-by-state-labor-department-other-agencies.html https://www.al.com/news/2022/07/alabama-hyundai-supplier-chi... > The story of the children came to light following the February 3 disappearance of a 14-year-old Guatemalan migrant child in Alabama, the news service stated. > According to Reuters, the child and her two brothers, aged 12 and 15, all worked for the plant. After the publicity generated by the February disappearance case, SMART reportedly dismissed several underage workers, according to former employees. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-hyundai-subsidiary-has-used-child-labor-alabama-factory-2022-07-22/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-hyundai-subsidiar... > 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 account in an interview with Reuters. > Police in the Tzi family's adopted hometown of Enterprise also told Reuters that the girl and her siblings had worked at SMART. The police, who helped locate the missing girl, at the time of their search identified her by name in a public alert. ---- Trafficked isn't the right word to use for the work (her disappearance may have been a case of attempted child trafficking - I haven't found anything yet on the specifics of the disappearance and it is likely more difficult because she is a minor). There are, however, issues with undocumented and poorly documented workers and their children not getting the proper public and social services (school for children being part of the public services).
- detaro 4y ago
  Did you also not register for school because you were mowing lawns the entire time? Or is that maybe not quite the same thing as what's described here?
  - lettergram 4y ago
    Did I miss something? Was that the case here? I personally worked like 20-30 hrs a week and went to school as well lol
    - detaro 4y ago
      From the original reuters report (linked from the article): > 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 account in an interview with Reuters. [...] > Pedro Tzi's children, who have now enrolled for the upcoming school term, were among a larger cohort of underage workers who found jobs at the Hyundai-owned supplier over the past few years, according to interviews with a dozen former and current plant employees and labor recruiters. > Several of these minors, they said, have foregone schooling in order to work long shifts at the plant,
      - watwut 4y ago
        If the company framed it as a homeschool plus internship, there would be no issue for them.
- somerandomqaguy 4y ago
  https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2020/title-25/chapter-8/section-25-8-33/ https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2020/title-25/chapter-8... -------------------------------------- (a) No individual under 16 years of age shall be employed, except in agricultural service, and except as otherwise provided in this chapter. Any individual 14 or 15 years of age may be employed outside school hours and during school vacation periods, so long as the individual is not employed in, about, or in connection with, any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, cannery, mill, workshop, warehouse, or machine shop or in any occupation or place of employment otherwise prohibited by law. The presence of any individual under 18 years of age in any restricted business establishment or restricted occupation shall be prima facie evidence of his or her employment in the business establishment or occupation. (b)(1) This section does not apply to an individual 14 years of age or 15 years of age when both of the following are true: a. The individual is enrolled in either a youth pre-apprenticeship program, youth industry-registry apprenticeship program, or similar program in which employment and work-based learning are an integral part of the course of study. b. The program the individual is enrolled in is registered by the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship. (2) This section does not apply to employment procured by an individual 14 years of age or 15 years of age when the employment is supervised through the Alabama Department of Education and approved by the Alabama Department of Labor. -------------------------------------------- Doesn't sound like those rules were followed. And I assume that the restrictions is mostly because heavy equipment like metal presses lack fail safes like a lawn mower does.
smileysteve 4y ago
> The parents need some counseling and a stern scaring too The kids were reported missing to police, which is why they were found.
nimbius 4y ago
- vxxzy 4y ago
  Which states?
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  Less of a "controversial opinion" and more of a delusional rant with no basis in fact, and no supporting evidence to back any of these statements
warbler73 4y ago

lettergram 4y ago

> The parents need some counseling and a stern scaring too but I wouldn't push too hard on a family desperate enough to send their kids to a factory. I started mowing lawns at 12. Pretty heavy machinery; massive spinning blade, could lose an arm! Luckily I had that opportunity, I was able to make money and pay for clothes. Learn responsibility, self-respect, etc. I do think child labor laws are there to protect children. However, we don’t know the circumstances and I think in most cases child labor laws do more harm than good. Here are some important details: > In a separate statement on Tuesday, Alabama’s state DOL said it had levied around $35,000 in total in civil penalties on SL Alabama and JK USA, a temporary labor recruiting firm. JK USA employed five minors between the ages of 13 and 16 at the plant, the state DOL said. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hyundai-kia-auto-parts-supplier-alabama-fined-child-labor-violations-2022-10-11/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hyundai-kia-auto-parts-supp... To me, it could be as simple as a few guys brought their kids who wanted to make an extra buck. They could have just been picking up metal scraps. We don’t know. What I can say is in high school I knew multiple people whos family worked in metal works and the kids would help out and get paid. Some kids were as young as 10, but everyone was safe and it appeared to be in everyone’s interest

WastingMyTime89 4y ago
Most sane countries in the world allow adolescents to work some time when school is not on or when doing an apprenticeship. Most don’t legally consider a kid mowing lawns for a stipend labour. There is a pretty major difference between that and doing work for an auto supplier while being staffed by a temp agency.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
warbler73 4y ago
diordiderot 4y ago
The children were trafficked
- detaro 4y ago
  source?
  - shagie 4y ago
    https://www.al.com/news/2022/07/alabama-hyundai-supplier-child-labor-report-investigated-by-state-labor-department-other-agencies.html https://www.al.com/news/2022/07/alabama-hyundai-supplier-chi... > The story of the children came to light following the February 3 disappearance of a 14-year-old Guatemalan migrant child in Alabama, the news service stated. > According to Reuters, the child and her two brothers, aged 12 and 15, all worked for the plant. After the publicity generated by the February disappearance case, SMART reportedly dismissed several underage workers, according to former employees. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-hyundai-subsidiary-has-used-child-labor-alabama-factory-2022-07-22/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-hyundai-subsidiar... > 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 account in an interview with Reuters. > Police in the Tzi family's adopted hometown of Enterprise also told Reuters that the girl and her siblings had worked at SMART. The police, who helped locate the missing girl, at the time of their search identified her by name in a public alert. ---- Trafficked isn't the right word to use for the work (her disappearance may have been a case of attempted child trafficking - I haven't found anything yet on the specifics of the disappearance and it is likely more difficult because she is a minor). There are, however, issues with undocumented and poorly documented workers and their children not getting the proper public and social services (school for children being part of the public services).
detaro 4y ago
Did you also not register for school because you were mowing lawns the entire time? Or is that maybe not quite the same thing as what's described here?
- lettergram 4y ago
  Did I miss something? Was that the case here? I personally worked like 20-30 hrs a week and went to school as well lol
  - detaro 4y ago
    From the original reuters report (linked from the article): > 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 account in an interview with Reuters. [...] > Pedro Tzi's children, who have now enrolled for the upcoming school term, were among a larger cohort of underage workers who found jobs at the Hyundai-owned supplier over the past few years, according to interviews with a dozen former and current plant employees and labor recruiters. > Several of these minors, they said, have foregone schooling in order to work long shifts at the plant,
    - watwut 4y ago
      If the company framed it as a homeschool plus internship, there would be no issue for them.
somerandomqaguy 4y ago
https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2020/title-25/chapter-8/section-25-8-33/ https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2020/title-25/chapter-8... -------------------------------------- (a) No individual under 16 years of age shall be employed, except in agricultural service, and except as otherwise provided in this chapter. Any individual 14 or 15 years of age may be employed outside school hours and during school vacation periods, so long as the individual is not employed in, about, or in connection with, any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, cannery, mill, workshop, warehouse, or machine shop or in any occupation or place of employment otherwise prohibited by law. The presence of any individual under 18 years of age in any restricted business establishment or restricted occupation shall be prima facie evidence of his or her employment in the business establishment or occupation. (b)(1) This section does not apply to an individual 14 years of age or 15 years of age when both of the following are true: a. The individual is enrolled in either a youth pre-apprenticeship program, youth industry-registry apprenticeship program, or similar program in which employment and work-based learning are an integral part of the course of study. b. The program the individual is enrolled in is registered by the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship. (2) This section does not apply to employment procured by an individual 14 years of age or 15 years of age when the employment is supervised through the Alabama Department of Education and approved by the Alabama Department of Labor. -------------------------------------------- Doesn't sound like those rules were followed. And I assume that the restrictions is mostly because heavy equipment like metal presses lack fail safes like a lawn mower does.

smileysteve 4y ago

> The parents need some counseling and a stern scaring too The kids were reported missing to police, which is why they were found.

nimbius 4y ago

vxxzy 4y ago
Which states?
phpisthebest 4y ago
Less of a "controversial opinion" and more of a delusional rant with no basis in fact, and no supporting evidence to back any of these statements

warbler73 4y ago