Vol. 77/No. 28      July 22, 2013

BY JANICE LYNN
ATLANTA — Some 60 people took part in a protest vigil and rally here June 26 for an auto parts worker who died after working in extreme heat at the Sewon America factory in LaGrange, about 65 miles south of Atlanta. A second vigil was held in LaGrange on June 29.

Teresa Pickard, 42, died on May 29 after working on the “project weld line.”

“The air conditioning on the assembly line is not working properly and workers are soaked in sweat,” an anonymous Sewon employee told the LaGrange Citizen. He said Pickard complained of chest pains several times before she was sent to the break room, where management keeps the air conditioning turned off to discourage workers from staying there.

Sewon America produces stamped chassis and other components for the Kia auto plant nearby and the Hyundai auto plant in Alabama. The company released a statement denying that Pickard’s death was work related and that it would have no further communication with the media.

Results of an autopsy could take six to eight weeks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting an investigation, which it says could take up to six months. In 2010 OSHA levied $135,900 in fines against the company for a number of safety violations, including failure to provide workers with appropriate hand protection, protect workers from arc welding flash burns, provide lockout/tagout procedures and provide machine guarding. In 2010 a worker there fell 50 feet to his death.

“Local people are now talking about the need for union organization to protect workers against the dangerous conditions,” Scott Smith, publisher of the LaGrange Citizen, told participants at the rally here.

Other speakers included Pickard’s cousin, Michael James, and representatives from the AFL-CIO, NAACP and the Georgia Student Justice Alliance.

Smith reported that Sewon officials threatened to fire workers if they attended the vigils and that company photographers would be taking pictures.
 
 
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