(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot Moderator Democratic Underground)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3796/the_dark_side_of_the_toyota_prius/News > July 16, 2008
By Paul Abowd
The National Labor Committee (NLC), a New York-based human rights group, has been investigating working conditions at Toyota Motor Corp., and the labor used to produce its best-selling Prius hybrid cars.
In its 65-page report released in June, NLC includes first-hand testimony of factory conditions in “Toyota City,” outside of Nagoya, Japan — less than 200 miles southwest of Tokyo — where the largest auto company in the world employs some 70,000 people.
![](http://www.inthesetimes.com/images/32/08/abowd.jpg)
A new report alleges that Toyota, the world's largest auto company, is violating workers' rights at Prius hybrid plants in Japan.
The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are “stripped of their passports and often forced to work — including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota — 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.” Workers are forced to live in company dormitories and deported for complaining about poor treatment, the report finds.
FULL story at link.