Report Ties Alabama Prison Labor in Hyundai Supply Chain to Wage Cuts and Safety Risks

Overview

• Researchers from Columbia University and Jobs to Move America surveyed more than 600 Alabama autoworkers and found Hyundai-affiliated supplier employees earn 10–15% less than peers elsewhere in the U.S.
• The study estimates a 10% increase in a plant’s share of incarcerated workers corresponds to a 10–14% drop in wages for non-incarcerated employees.
• State records cited in the report indicate roughly 13% of workers at Hyundai supplier plants in Alabama are in the state’s prison work-release program.
• Workers in the supply chain reported more frequent safety hazards, wage theft, forced overtime, harassment and missed breaks, including a firsthand account of an injured work-release participant told to keep working.
• The report situates current practices within the 13th Amendment exception that permits prison labor and recommends reforms such as ending wage garnishments for work-release participants and setting a $15 minimum wage.