News & Commentary December 23, 2022
https://onlabor.org/december-23-2022/
Carmakers face allegations of links to forced labor in Xinjiang, more instances of Americas systematic child labor problem, and the NLRB gets some more funding.
The Senate Finance Committee is conducting a probe into car makers like Tesla, Mercedes, and GM, requesting specific information about their links to forced labor in Xinjiang. Several weeks ago, Sheffield Hallam University released research that suggested forced labor is more deeply enmeshed in global supply chains than regulators previously knew. Car makers in particular may be importing products of forced Uyghur labor such as steel and aluminum, electric vehicle batteries, vehicle electronic systems, tires, and replacement parts. Due to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), car makers now face a rebuttable presumption that the importation of any goods from Xinjiang is prohibited. This Senate probe will supplement US Customs and Border Protection enforcement of the UFLPA, which even prior to the Sheffield report, was inadequate to meet the scale of the issue.
As Anita reported yesterday, violations of child labor laws have gone up 37% in 2022. Crumbl Cookies, whose egregious violations were just described in our daily News & Commentary, is far from alone.
FULL story at link above.