# Child labor in Alabama Hyundai factory **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 22, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383 "2022-07-22T17:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/81 "2023-03-07T18:51:33Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > constituents The important constituents, like Hyundai. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/82 "2023-03-08T01:31:12Z")
One dollar \> one vote. The political equation of our times. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/83 "2023-03-08T02:42:39Z")
I’m quite certain if you asked most Alabama voters, they support the actions of their representatives. They see child labor as a positive as long as it’s the disposable people getting exploited. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/84 "2023-03-09T12:38:34Z")
Arkansas is following their lead - child labor regulations are ‘too burdensome’… [https://wapo.st/3yr0hTk](https://wapo.st/3yr0hTk)] ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/85 "2023-03-09T15:20:22Z")
Wow. ( shaking my head ) Whenever discussing labor protections ( or organized labor ) with RW-ers they almost always ( almost without fail, it seems ) trot out the same trite argument that, and I’m paraphrasing: “labor protections and/or unions may have been needed back around the late 19th/early 20th centuries, the pendulum has swung the other way, perhaps too far”. And then, so deftly as they please, they rationalize pushing it back into the direction of robber-baron rule. Without a hint of irony. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/86 "2023-03-09T16:00:24Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > None of these kids were Real Alabamians. > > ETA: that’s sarcasm, in case it’s not obvious to all. > [@Chingon](#): > > Looks like the politicians Alabama voted into office are doing exactly what their constituents wanted them to. along the same vain: _Well I called my congressman and he said quote_ _“I’d like to help you son, but you’re too young to vote”_ ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/87 "2023-05-03T20:55:12Z")
Not a car factory; this time it’s a restaurant. Lots of restaurants. McRonald’s restaurants. " Over 300 children were found working at the restaurants across several states, with 45 of the 62 McDonald’s restaurants located in Kentucky. At one store in Louisville operated by Bauer Food LLC, two 10-year-olds were found to be working unpaid and as late as 2 a.m., [the department said](https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230502-0)." > **[Hundreds of Children Found Working at McDonald’s Restaurants Across Several...](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/hundreds-of-children-found-working-at-mcdonalds-restaurants-across-several-states/3133033/)** > > The Labor Department found that more than 300 children were working at McDonald's restaurants, including two 10-year-olds. Dah-da-da-da-daa ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/88 "2023-05-03T21:08:01Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Dah-da-da-da-daa Oh come now, that’s an exaggeration. It’s not like they had workers too young to be talking yet. Besides, more labor is good for the soul. _Arbeit macht frei_ after all. Just in case it wasn’t obvious, I’m channeling a member of the anti-regulation wing of the KY legislature. These are not my actual opinions. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/89 "2023-05-03T21:09:40Z")
That’s the latest McDonald’s radio spot tagline. I should have included musical notes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/90 "2023-05-03T21:20:27Z")
I knew what you meant after a bit of thought and before I posted. But I liked my take on it for humorous purposes. The idea of some pig-ignorant pro-business legislator defending using pre-verbal kids as laborers was just too rich a target to pass up. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/91 "2023-10-19T12:00:30Z")
Yet another example of fine young go-getters in the workforce. Driving a forklift is a skill that kid will be able to use for the rest of their life. They should be grateful! > **[Child as young as 11 operated forklift at Kentucky distribution center,...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/child-young-11-operated-forklift-employed-kentucky-distribution-center-rcna120997)** > > In August, the Labor Department found two kids, ages 11 and 13, had been employed "for months" at the Hebron distribution center. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/92 "2023-10-20T06:11:24Z")
And a $30,000 fine is peanuts for a company like this. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/93 "2023-10-20T12:39:01Z")
They certainly saved more than that in wages. A profitable decision all around. Presumably some executive got a promotion for this. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/94 "2023-10-20T14:13:51Z")
This is terrible and all, but I bet the 11 year old thought driving a forklift was awesome. I would have at that age. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/95 "2023-10-20T14:15:07Z")
is driving a forklift more or less complicated than driving a car? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/96 "2023-10-20T14:20:29Z")
Thoughtful folks at the Brownstone Institute (better known for attacking vaccination and other measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic) want to [repeal child labor laws](https://www.importantcontext.news/p/leaked-brownstone-institute-emails) so kids can have “exciting” employment experiences. They’re quite explicit about it. > **[Their Schools Shut, So Why Not Let Teens Work? ⋆ Brownstone Institute](https://brownstone.org/articles/their-schools-shut-so-why-not-let-teens-work/)** > > It’s time we stop taking opportunities away from kids. Their lives have been wrecked during this pandemic response ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/97 "2023-10-20T14:28:21Z")
You can’t accidentally hire an 11 year old. I don’t understand why they can’t do more than a $30k fine, since this was obviously willful disregard of the child labor laws. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/98 "2023-10-20T14:32:25Z")
A lot of business play Regulatory Roulette with the IRS, OSHA, DoLs, etc. precisely because the odds are in their favor. Paying fines, back pay, back taxes, etc. are just a gist of doing business with a positive rate of return. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/99 "2023-10-20T16:29:16Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > This is terrible and all, but I bet the 11 year old thought driving a forklift was awesome. I would have at that age. For the first afternoon, sure. I’d have been overjoyed to give it a try. After 40 hours times a few weeks, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383/100 "2023-10-20T16:35:23Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > A lot of business play Regulatory Roulette with the IRS, OSHA, DoLs, etc. precisely because the odds are in their favor. Paying fines, back pay, back taxes, etc. are just a gist of doing business with a positive rate of return. _cost_ of doing business [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-labor-in-alabama-hyundai-factory/968383.md?page=6)