Hyundai Motor Company President and CEO Jose Munoz responds to anticipated auto industry tariffs on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
The United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union is condemning Hyundai for what it calls a “disgraceful record on worker safety” following an immigration raid at an electric car battery factory in Georgia.
Most of the 475 people detained on Sept. 4 under suspicion of being in the United States illegally – with at least 300 reportedly hailing from South Korea – were employees of subcontractors, rather than direct employees, LGES and Hyundai Motor Company have said, according to Reuters.
“For years, Hyundai – including its joint ventures and the suppliers that work in its plants – cut corners on industry-standard safety precautions, refused to respect workers’ right to a union, and relied on the exploitation of immigrant labor to build its factories and supply chains,” the UAW said in a Tuesday press release.
The union says three workers at Hyundai died on the job in the last two years, and called on federal agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Labor Relations Board to “increase workplace safety.”
HYUNDAI’S ‘FIRST-EVER, 3-ROW’ EV UNDER PRODUCTION AT NEW GEORGIA PLANT
Federal agents detain workers during an immigration raid at the Hyundai battery plant construction site in Ellabell, Ga., on Sept. 4, 2025. (ATF / Fox News)
“Unfortunately, the militarized federal crackdown on these workers further hurts safety at Hyundai. Workers are not the problem. Exploitative corporations are,” the UAW’s statement said. “The UAW will always stand with all workers – immigrant and native-born alike – against unsafe corporations and militarized attacks on our workplaces.”
SOUTH KOREA MINISTER HEADS TO US AMID FALLOUT FROM ICE HYUNDAI RAID
Euisun Chung, executive chair of Hyundai Motor Group, and Gov. Brian Kemp sign a Hyundai IONIQ 5 EV at the grand opening of the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America on March 26, 2025, in Ellabell, Georgia. (Hyundai Motor Group / Fox News)
Hyundai did not immediately respond to a FOX Business inquiry.
President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., Aug. 25, 2025. (Brian Snyder/File Photo / Reuters)
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The detainees in Georgia are now set to be released and sent back to their home country, after South Korea and the U.S. reached an agreement.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz and Reuters contributed to this report.
