Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to clarify the Hyundai affiliates located on the Hyundai metaplant in Bryan County. On site affiliates include: Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Material, Hyundai Steel and Hyundai Transys, as well as the battery plant.
When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced two years ago that South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group was going to build an electric vehicle plant near Savannah, he celebrated the nearly $8 billion deal that promised to bring more than 8,000 well-paying jobs for hard-working Georgians.
Last week’s federal raid at the Hyundai Metaplant, and the EV battery facility that is a joint venture between Hyundai and Korean-company LG Energy Solution, partially lifted veil on murkier aspects of the state’s largest economic development project. Federal officials detained approximately 475 foreign workers – approximately 300 of whom were Korean — during an ongoing investigation into illegal labor practices.
The Current GA has published numerous stories about misleading wage claims and workplace safety problems at the sprawling, 2,300-acre site on which Hyundai has assembled a complete supply chain of companies. Each are separate legal entities but all have a role in meeting the employment and wage targets that the state of Georgia received in exchange for the $2 billion in state tax credits and abatements agreed to between the Kemp administration and to Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, the company that oversees production at the metaplant.
Prior to last week’s raid, HMGMA said it was not responsible for the actions of the affiliates, suppliers and subcontractors that The Current’s reporting showed were allegedly in violation of federal workplace safety laws. On Friday, Hyundai announced that it was bringing a senior executive to supervise the firms amid the ongoing federal investigation at the battery plant.
As of Monday, no arrests have been made, and it is still unclear who employed those detained. The search warrant authorizing the raid cited the battery plant as a target of the investigation, along with five other companies who appear to have served as subcontractors for the plant
With so many of the operations at the Hyundai site intertwined, it means that a worker in one company may have been recruited by a different company or subcontractor.
To build EVs, Hyundai has organized its whole supply chain at the site. These companies include Hyundai’s own affiliates such as Hyundai Material, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Steel, and Hyundai Transys, as well as the battery factory with LG. Together, those companies must together invest $5.545 billion and hire at least 8,500 workers by 2031 making an average of $58,105 in order to get the tax credits and tax deferments offered by the state.
Hyundai told The Current as of mid-March that approximately 1,200 people were employed across the site, not counting Koreans.
More than a dozen suppliers have also set up shop in the surrounding counties to make components such as brakes and bumpers.
Here is a link to more investigative stories in which The Current has revealed alleged violations of labor and workplace safety laws at the plant.