#ForcedLabor

The Senate Finance Committee has formally requested that eight major automakers provide detailed information about their supply chains in order to determine whether or not they benefit from slave labor. In a letter sent Thursday, the group referenced a report from Sheffield Hallam University claiming that the auto industry is “unwittingly” utilizing metals, batteries, wiring, wheels, and other components that were coming from questionable sources – namely ethnic slaves living in Western China.

General Motors’ joint venture in Shanghai is reportedly having employees sleep on factory floors to remain operational during regional COVID-19 lockdowns. The facilities are operated collaborative by GM and state-owned Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp, with government restrictions being in place until at least Friday. Due to the tens of million people affected, it’s one of the largest lockdowns instituted since the pandemic started.

Initially reported by Reuters, the situation was framed as GM finding a workaround to ongoing Chinese lockdowns while other companies simply stopped production. But that seems to be glossing over some of the relevant context, mainly that the plant is now loaded up with workers who are sleeping inside the factory and living in relative isolation to ensure the facility is compliant with China’s stringent zero-tolerance policy while still managing to remain competitive.