Tesla board asked for child labour transparency

Shareholders will have the chance to vote on a floor proposal filed with Tesla at its annual general meeting on May 16. 

The floor proposal, filed by As You Sow on behalf of Investor Advocates for Social Justice (IASJ), asks Tesla’s board to issue a report describing if and how it plans to eradicate child labour and forced labour from its supply chain by 2025 and introduce more supply chain transparency.  

“Child labour and forced labour are very relevant concerns for companies, consumers, and legislators,” said Courtney Wicks, executive director of IASJ. 

“The New York Times exposé on the persistence of child labour in the U.S. and a Reuters investigation on child labour in a prominent automaker’s supplier’s plant illustrate the growing momentum and awareness around eradicating child labour.”

IASJ says Tesla sources cobalt for its electric batteries from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It claims that it does “not source from artisanal and small-scale mining,” which is typically at risk of using child labour. 

Two recent investigations focused on mining in the DRC assert that it is almost impossible to separate the flow of artisanal and small-scale mining cobalt from the larger supply of industrially mined cobalt according to IASJ. 

It says a recent report also concluded that Tesla’s supply chain in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been “substantially tainted with forced labour.” Recent legislation and an ongoing Senate Finance Committee inquiry further highlight the regulatory risk to Tesla and several other automakers from human rights violations in their supply chains. 

IASJ and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd have filed three previous proposals at Tesla focused on cobalt sourcing from the DRC. A 2019 As You Sow proposal asking company Amphenol to share processes for identifying and analysing potential and actual human rights risks of its operations and supply chain received support from almost 50% of shareholders. 

IASJ actively engages companies to address forced labour and child labour within their supply chains. As part of its Shifting Gears Campaign, IASJ published a report detailing forced labour and child labour in the automotive supply chain, launching engagement with automakers on these issues.