Agriprocessors In Postville Violated Child Labor Laws

Potentially Up To $1 Million Dollars In Fines!

Shame On Agriprocessors, Shame On The Postville
Community Who Knew Or Should Have Known

The Agriprocessors meat-processing plant in Postville could be hit with up to $1 million in fines as a result of alleged violations of child-labor laws.

The state's labor commissioner is asking Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to pursue charges against Agriprocessors for what is alleged to be a record-setting number of criminal violations related to underage Iowa workers.

"There's no doubt it's probably the largest case in the history of the state," said Labor Commissioner Dave Neil. "
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Read Iowa Workforce Development News Release

Read Associated Press Release

Mainstream Iowan Opinion: All this would not have been brought to light had it not been for the Postville ICE Raid... Agriprocessors is a public nuisance, an embarrassment and a blight to the State of Iowa.

Agriprocessors Postville immigration

Postville's Agriprocessors: A Blight On Iowa

Company Gives The State Of Iowa A Bad Name
Governor Orders State Agency Not To List Agriprocessors Jobs

Iowa Governor Culver: "... I directed Iowa Workforce Development Director Lis Buck to prevent Agriprocessors from listing open positions on state job-listings services due to the unsafe working conditions at the Postville facility.

Before the federal raid, Agriprocessors already had a history of sanctions by Iowa's state regulatory agencies for water pollution, as well as health and safety law violations. Alarming information about working conditions at the Postville plant - including allegations ranging from the use of child labor in prohibited jobs to sexual and physical abuse by supervisors; from the nonpayment of regular and overtime wages to the denial of immediate medical attention for workplace injuries - brought to national attention by the raid forces me to believe that, in contrast to our state's overall economic-development strategy, this company's owners have deliberately chosen to take the low road in its business practices."
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Postville Company Cited for 31 Safety Violations,$101,000 Fine Proposed

Iowa Governor Response Applauded

Agriprocessor Replies

Agriprocessors Postville Iowa Culver

Agriprocessors In Postville: Bad News

- Agriprocessors Are Bad Corporate Citizens -
Bad Managers Plus Illegal Workers
Equals = BAD PRODUCT

Polluters
AUGUST 2006: The company agrees to pay $603,086 to settle a complaint by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Federal prosecutors had accused the owners of discharging pollutants into Postville's city water treatment system.

Unsanitary
SEPTEMBER 2006: The U.S. Department of Agriculture issues a "letter of warning" to the plant, based on failure to meet minimum requirements for sanitary conditions. Rodents had been seen in offices, and other unsanitary conditions were noted outside the plant. The letter noted multiple instances of unsanitary conditions that had gone uncorrected over the previous 90 days.

Food Contamination
DECEMBER 2006: USDA inspectors find fecal contamination of chickens being processed. In one case, an inspector has to intervene three times to correct the problem. A day later, an inspector finds that about half the chickens he observes being processed are contaminated with feces and bile. A week later, inspectors note that at least 70 percent of the chickens are contaminated with feces. Two days later, inspectors report finding two pallets of beef that had "a rancid smell and (were) slimy to the touch." Hydraulic oil is seen dripping from an overhead motor onto raw chickens being processed. A few days later, inspectors see the same problem.

JANUARY 2007: USDA inspectors find "a large amount of fecal and bile contamination" on chickens being processed. Three areas are deemed "out of compliance, with fecal material sprayed everywhere around them." An inspector halts the meat-processing line and raises the issue with a worker who wanted to restart the line without taking corrective action.
JANUARY 2007: The USDA announces that Agriprocessors is recalling 2,700 pounds of frankfurters because of possible underprocessing.

Product Mislabeling
JULY 2007: The USDA announces that Agriprocessors is recalling 35,860 pounds of frozen beef and chicken products because they may contain egg albumen, a known allergen, which is not declared on the label.

Violations of Safety Rules
MARCH 2008: The Iowa Division of Labor Services cites Agriprocessors for 39 violations of workplace safety rules and proposes a $182,000 fine. The sanctions are based on inspections that took place in October 2007 and February 2008. Inspectors say the violations relate to hazardous chemicals and inadequate emergency response plans. Federal officials put the case "on hold," according to Kerry Koonce of Iowa Workforce Development. As of Tuesday, the matter remained unresolved.
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Illegals immigration Iowa ICE

Nearly $10 Million In Fines Against Agriprocessors

Exploitation of Illegal Immigrants Catches Up With Agriprocessors - Illegal Deductions... Wages Illegally Reduced... Wages Unpaid

Iowa’s Labor Commissioner assessed civil penalties against Agriprocessors, Inc. for repeated violations of Iowa’s wage laws from January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008.

“Once again, Agriprocessors has demonstrated a complete disregard for Iowa Law,” stated Iowa Labor Commissioner Dave Neil. “This continued course of violations is a black mark on Iowa’s business community.”
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Postville Agriprocessors Iowa

Iowa Temp Agency Pulls Workers From Agriprocessors In Postville

Labor Ready Says Agriprocessors Violate Core Principles

POSTVILLE, Iowa - A Waterloo company that was contracted to provide labor to Postville's Agriprocessors Inc. has pulled its estimated 150 workers out of the plant because of safety concerns.

Labor Ready provides non-skilled labor on contract and had placed workers at the troubled meat processing plant for about 10 days when it pulled workers during the middle of last week, said Stacey Burke, a spokeswoman for TrueBlue, Labor Ready's parent company.

"There was a concern on the part of my field operators about the safety and care afforded to our workers," Burke said. "We felt as if there was a violation on our core principles."
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Read More About The Agriprocessor Cesspool


Agriprocessors Postville Immigration Iowa

Agriprocessors: Charged With 9,000+ Counts Of Child Labor Violations

Postville Once Touted As Iowa's Beacon Of Diversity
Now Considered "The Shame Of Iowa" by Agriprocessors...

The Iowa attorney general's office has filed child labor charges against the owner and managers of the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville.

The complaint filed Tuesday alleges more than 9,000 violations of Iowa's child labor law at the plant. The attorney general's office said the violations occurred from Sept. 9, 2007, to May 12, 2008.

The complaint indicates the violations involved 32 children under age 18, including seven who were younger than 16.
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Agriprocessor's Executives Charged With Felonies

Those facing state misdemeanor charges are company owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin; his son, longtime company leader Sholom Rubashkin, 48; human resources manager Elizabeth Billmeyer; and human resources employees Laura Althouse, 38, and Karina Freund, 29. The penalty for each count is 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $625.

In addition, Althouse faces three felony charges and Freund one felony charge. A federal criminal complaint states that on May 11, the day before a massive immigration raid, Althouse helped employees who had already been hired to complete new applications with new names, using newly acquired false identification documents.

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Postville Agriprocessors Iowa Immigration

New Iowa Blog: Postville Voices

New Iowa Blog Needs A More Fitting Name:
The Postville Profiteers or Agriprocessors Inc. Spin

Spinning Agriprocessor's Bull

Just discovered a new Iowa Blog! This blog has more spin than the tornadoes that recently devastated Iowa. Allegedly produced and written by an Agripocessor mechanic, the blog has put a human face on the many padding their pockets from the Postville underground industry.

While the Blog is in English, we do not yet get to see the illegals posted on UTube. What you can see is new hires who don't know any better, and some of the profiteers who padded their pockets. They are now speaking out in defense of themselves and Agriprocessors.

An entire underground industry developed around Agriprocessors with its illegal immigrants. No wonder so many in Postville turned their heads the other way. Make no mistake, workers were exploited and pockets were padded. Even a profiteer landlord who rented to illegals speaks out.

Visit Postville Voices

Remember, while you are visiting the Agriprocessors Blog, that,
When entering Postville, The Spin Starts Here!

Illegals immigration Iowa ICE

Protests and Counter-Protests In Postville Iowa

Some Protesters Supporting ICE, Some Protesting
Agriprocessors, Some Demanding Immigration Reform
Organizers Imported Protesters From Other States

Supporters came from Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Texas and Wisconsin and elsewhere to participate in the two-mile march that wound through Postville from St. Bridget's to Agriprocessors and to a city park before returning to the church.

Walkers chanted, "Si, se puede" — "Yes, we can" — as they walked, followed by choruses of "People united can't be defeated."

As the group stopped outside the Agriprocessors plant, Rabbi Harold Kravitz, of Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minneapolis, Minn., told rally-goers that the Jewish community is asking those who prepare meats according to their kosher requirements be held accountable.

A smaller group of about 200 protesters stood across the street from the rally, carrying signs that read, "Thank you ICE," referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement service, and "The more raids the better."
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Immigration ICE illegal

Iowa Labor Services Buckle To Agriprocessors

Amount Of Fines Reduced From $182,000 to $42,750

The state has agreed to reduce by three-fourths a fine against the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville for violations of workplace safety regulations.

On May 12, Agriprocessors was the site of the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history. Nearly 400 workers were detained.

Nearly two months earlier, on March 20, the Iowa Division of Labor Services said it was citing the plant for 39 violations of workplace safety rules.

The agency proposed a fine of $182,000. The sanctions were based on inspections that took place in October 2007 and February 2008.
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Illegals immigration Iowa ICE

More On Postville's Agriprocessors...

A Not So Kosher Corporation In Iowa
More Postville Iowa Pride...

Iowa's Agriprocessors meatpacking plant agreed to pay $1.4 million last year to settle allegations that it participated in a fraudulent scheme to hide another company's assets.

The allegations revolved around Allou Distributors, a pharmaceutical company controlled by Herman Jacobowitz of New York. Allou filed for bankruptcy in 2003, shortly after its Brooklyn warehouse was torched.

The bankruptcy trustee in the Allou case accused the Jacobowitz family of orchestrating a "long-running and massive fraudulent scheme" to loot the company of millions of dollars by artificially inflating the company's assets. By exaggerating the company's value, the trustee alleged, the family was able to gain additional leverage to borrow money from lenders and convert company assets for their own personal use.
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Illegals immigration Iowa ICE Postville Agriprocessors

More Charges In Postville's Agriprocessor's Supervisors

Arrest Warrants For Two Supervisors and Plant Manager

Two supervisors at a kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa where hundreds of illegal immigrants were rounded up in May were arrested Thursday on criminal immigration charges.

Federal prosecutors said they had also issued an arrest warrant for a third man described by workers as a plant manager. The supervisors, Juan Carlos Guerrero Espinoza and Martin De la Rosa Loera, were arrested at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, prosecutors said. They were the first employees who were not rank-and-file workers to be arrested since 389 illegal immigrants were rounded up at the plant on May 12, said Bob Teig, a spokesman for the United States attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.

“The arrest of two low-level supervisors, while a start, barely scratches the surface of this company’s bad behavior,” said Scott Frotman, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which has tried to organize the plant. “What about the allegations of worker abuse? Does anyone really believe that these low-level supervisors acted alone without the knowledge, or even the direction, of the Rubashkins and other senior management?”
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Illegals immigration Iowa ICE Postville Agriprocessors

Immigration Raids In Postville Iowa

ICE Raids Meatpacking Plant - Up To 700 Arrests
Drugs, Abused Workers And Violations Of Iowa's Minimum Wage Law

Note: The Postville Agriprocessors plant is known as the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse and is northeast Iowa’s largest employer. The raid targeted people who illegally used other people's Social Security numbers and were in the U.S. illegally.

A total of 16 local, state and federal agencies, led by ICE, joined the investigation that began last October. Among them was the U.S. Marshals Service, the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the Waterloo Police Department and the Postville Police Department.

According to search warrants, ICE agents interviewed a former plant supervisor – identified as “Source 1” – in November 2007, who told them that the plant employed foreign nationals from Mexico, Guatemala and Eastern Europe. Roughly 80 percent of those workers were living illegally in the U.S., the supervisor said.

“Source 1” told federal agents that some employees were running a methamphetamine lab in the plant, and were bringing weapons to work. The supervisor confronted a higher-level manager about the drugs, and shortly after was fired.

A plant employee identified as “Source 11” told authorities that he/she was hired without presenting employment documents or filling out any forms. The worker’s first paycheck had a different person’s name on it, which was then cashed at another part of the plant.

Undocumented workers were paid $5 an hour for their first three or four months on the job, the employee said, and then received a salary increase to $6 per hour.
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Illegals immigration Iowa ICE