Alabama’s prisoners are being exploited for cheap labour to make car parts
for Hyundai.

Tell Hyundai: stop the human rights abuses and clean up your supply chain
now.

[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition 

   
John,

Hyundai has been caught using incarcerated people in Alabama to make its
car parts — in dangerous and abusive conditions.

A new investigation has revealed that imprisoned workers, who are
disproportionately Black, have been subject to extreme safety hazards,
harassment, forced overtime and even made to work with broken bones.

One inmate said he was ordered to go back to work after breaking a bone in
his hand. If he refused he risked being sent to a more violent prison.

Hyundai has the power to demand its suppliers clean up their act. Hyundai
cares about its reputation, so if we can shine a spotlight on its supply
chain it will have to stop the human rights violations occurring.

[ [link removed] ]More than 46,006 people have already signed the petition. Will you add
your name now?

Hyundai’s supply chain violations are rooted in racism. What’s happening
in Alabama is part of the “New Jim Crow” — a system where mass
incarceration replaces segregation, trapping Black communities in cycles
of surveillance, punishment and exploitation. And Hyundai is benefiting
from it.

And because incarcerated workers are desperate to escape horrific daily
conditions inside prisons they are the perfect cheap labour force for
Hyundai’s suppliers: low pay, no rights, no ability to quit.

The prison labor system is hurting all workers. The investigation also
found that when prison labor makes up more than 10% of a suppliers’ work
force, wages for non incarcerated workers falls by up to 14%.

This isn’t the first time human rights violations have occurred in
Hyundai’s supply chain. In 2022 it was revealed that children were being
put to work making car parts for Hyundai. After this came to light,
massive public pressure forced suppliers to cut ties with the agencies
involved.

Suppliers need to clean up their act, and pressure from Hyundai could make
this happen now. Will you call on Hyundai to stop the human rights abuses
occurring in its supply chain?

[ [link removed] ]Hyundai: clean up your supply chain now.

We’ve put pressure on automakers before and won. Last year people from all
around the world demanded Toyota Australia stop its dirty lobbying for
fossil fuels and together with allies we forced the car company out of the
way so the government could regulate vehicle pollution. It was a win for
our health and the planet.

Now it’s time for Hyundai to clean up its act.



[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition 



Thanks for all that you do,
Nish, Nabil, Eoin and the team at Ekō


More information:

[ [link removed] ]USA: More than 500 businesses, including McDonald's, Burger King and
Walmart, allegedly using Alabama prisoners as cheap labour
Business and Human Rights Resource Centre 20 Dec 2024
[ [link removed] ]Alabama prison labor in Hyundai supply chain has devastating effect on
wages, researchers say
Advance Local 13 Nov 2025
[ [link removed] ]Labor lawsuit says O.C.-based Hyundai, Kia are exploiting children,
immigrants, inmates
LA Times 14 Nov 2025
[ [link removed] ]Forced prison labor in the “Land of the Free” Rooted in Racism and
Economic Exploitation
Economic Policy Institute 16 Jan 2025

 

 

Ekō is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

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