CA: LAANE Issues Statement on BYD Fine

Madeline Janis, national policy director of the Los Angeles Alliance for the New Economy (LAANE) issued the following statement in regards to BYD being fined for labor law violations:

"BYD has hidden abusive treatment of Chinese workers and substandard electric buses behind a false promise to provide good jobs and clean transportation to Angelenos.  These shocking allegations should prompt Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority and Long Beach Public Transportation Authority to reconsider their contracts with BYD."

"Los Angeles officials must have been asleep at the switch to miss BYD’s potentially unsafe buses, failure to create good jobs for Angelenos, and misuse of millions in taxpayer funds.  BYD’s deception underscores the need for our public transportation agencies to monitor contractors and hold them to the highest standards."

"When public officials commit taxpayers’ money to create jobs and build our transportation systems, they should mean business: certainly not the business of exploiting workers and cutting corners on safety!  In future, Los Angeles area public agencies must insist on transparency and good jobs for American workers, from the companies they do business with."

"Electric buses can provide clean transportation for our community, when made safely by American workers with good jobs. Several electric bus manufacturers with proven job creation and safety records were unfairly passed over for these contracts because of BYD’s outrageous deception."