Recall Injustice Launches to Expose Child Labor, Worker Deaths, and Environmental Harm in Hyundai and Kia's Supply Chain

Jobs to Move America analysis details systemic child labor, workplace dangers, and environmental penalties within Hyundai and Kia's US supply chain 

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, a powerful coalition of labor, environmental, faith, and community organizations launched the Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia campaign at the Los Angeles Auto Show—one of North America's most influential automotive events. The campaign calls for corporate accountability in response to widespread labor and environmental violations across companies in Hyundai-Kia's U.S. supply chain. During Kia's press conference on Thursday at the LA Auto Show, the coalition presented the report and a letter requesting action to CEO and President of Kia America SeungKyu Yoon. You can view the video here.

As part of this launch, Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia campaign will release a new investigative report written by Jobs to Move America, Hidden in Plain Sight: Safety, Labor & Environmental Violations Driving Hyundai-Kia's Supply Chain, that uncovers documented reports of child labor, preventable fatalities and injuries, environmental violations, and exploitation of prison workers among companies in Hyundai-Kia's U.S. supply chain. 

The associated database, which is now publicly accessible through the website at www.Recallinjustice.org, is a compilation of thousands of public records collected over two years identifying violations of health and safety, environmental, and child labor laws by companies in Hyundai-Kia's supply chain in the U.S.

To mark the launch, coalition members will deliver letters to Hyundai and Kia officials at the LA Auto Show. The letters are signed by 41 groups from around the country, including the Alabama League of Women Voters, Georgia State Federation of Labor, Black Lives Matter Alabama, Conservation Alabama, UAW Region 6, the Los Angeles County Labor Federation and the AL NAACP. Following the LA Auto Show actions, coalition members will travel to Orange County to hand-deliver letters at two separate locations: Hyundai's headquarters in Fountain Valley and Kia's headquarters in Irvine.

Key findings from the report include:

Death and Injury Prevalence: Over the last 9 years, twelve workers have died working for companies in Hyundai-Kia's U.S. supply chain, tied to failures in basic protections.

Evidence of Child Labor: Federal and state investigators, along with investigative journalists, uncovered children as young as 13 illegally employed at nine Hyundai-Kia suppliers in Alabama. Hyundai faces an active federal lawsuit from the Department of Labor alleging joint liability for these violations.

Environmental Violations: Since 2006, Hyundai-Kia's U.S. assembly plants have incurred financial penalties exceeding those paid by all other auto manufacturing plants in Alabama and Georgia for environmental violations, paying over $158 million in penalties.

Coercive Labor: At Hyundai-Kia's suppliers across the south, workers are facing conditions that are anything but normal. Child labor, prison labor, health and safety issues, are all serious issues that have been documented by government regulators' findings, media investigations, and in a Columbia Labor Lab study published in early November.

For more information visit: www.Recallinjustice.org

Photos are available upon request.

About Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia campaign
We are an emerging coalition of community organizations, research and policy groups, workers, faith leaders, environmentalists, unions, and labor councils committed to environmental, racial, economic justice, and workplace democracy. Our coalition believes that companies can and should partner with their neighbors to address problems and care for their shared communities.

About Jobs to Move America
Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, independent research to develop the ideas, practices, and policies necessary to build a just new economy. For more than a decade, federal, state, and local policymakers have relied on JMA's research to inform their decision-making at the intersection of public procurement and emerging industries. JMA has recently produced leading insights into industries such as electric school bus manufacturing, microchip manufacturing, and lithium extraction.

Contact:
Lara Bergthold 
[email protected] 
(310) 567-2720

SOURCE Jobs to Move America