Prison Labor Cars

When Hyundai came to the United States for cheap American labor, they meant they wanted cheap American labor, which the South is always ready to provide through prisoners.

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 employees at other Alabama auto suppliers. In the Montgomery area, where most Hyundai suppliers are concentrated, wages run 7 to 9 percent lower than comparable jobs elsewhere in Alabama and neighboring states.

“Even when you just look at the free world workers, the non-incarcerated workers, we find that the plants that are using a higher share of incarcerated workers have worse wages, worse working conditions,” Columbia economics professor and co-author of the study Suresh Naidu said Thursday (local time) during an online press conference.

The report found incarcerated workers were “much less likely to quit in response to a hypothetical wage cut,” a dynamic that gives employers leverage to push standards down for all workers.

State records cited in the report indicate that about 13 percent of Hyundai supplier plant workers in Alabama participate in the state’s prison work release program. The report emphasizes that coerced labor has deep roots in Alabama’s economy, dating back to the early 19th century.

America, a nation that never really changes……