Obama Raps Kosher Giant, But Not By Name

by Staff Report

Sen. Barack Obama waded into the Agriprocessors controversy this week, referring to the embattled kosher meatpacking plant as “taking advantage of undocumented workers” at a stop Monday in Davenport, Iowa.

The presumptive Democratic nominee didn’t mention the plant by name but responded to a woman who asked a question about the situation at the Postville plant, according to the Des Moines Register Web site.

“We’ve got to crack down on employers who are taking advantage of undocumented workers,” Obama said, according to the Register’s story. “When you read about a meatpacking plant hiring 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds — that is some of the most dangerous, difficult work there is. ... They have kids in there wielding buzz saws and cleavers? It’s ridiculous. And the only

reason they’re hiring these folks is because they want to avoid paying decent wages and providing decent benefits.”

Agriprocessors, the largest kosher meat producer in the United States, is accused of hiring illegal immigrants, some of whom are underage. Several plant supervisors have been arrested on immigration and fraudulent identity charges. The plant’s owners, the Brooklyn-based Rubashkin family, maintain they did not knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Agriprocessors’ attorney, Nathan Lewin, called Obama’s comments “shocking.”
In a release, he said, “Did Senator Obama look at the evidence or consider the plant’s categorical denial of these allegations? ... No one alleges that any employee who was later identified as under 18 was working at Agriprocessors with ‘buzz saws and cleavers.’”

Lewin said, “Agriprocessors recruited only those who were over 18 and knowingly accepted for employment only those who said they were over 18. Applicants may have lied about their age to get a job.”

Obama’s remarks came a day after Iowa’s governor sharply criticized the kosher meat producer.

Chet Culver, in an op-ed published Sunday in the Des Moines Register, said Agriprocessors had “taken the low road” in its business practices and taken advantage of a failed federal immigration system.

“The sad events surrounding the federal Postville raid, resulting in multiple federal criminal-law convictions of line workers and low-level supervisors — and, notably, not yet of the company’s owners — are strong evidence of a company that has chosen to take advantage of a failed federal immigration system,” Culver wrote. “In doing so, this company has fallen far short of meeting the high business standards that Iowans expect.”

In the wake of a massive federal immigration raid on Agriprocessors in May, numerous workers came forward alleging sexual harassment, shorted pay and forced overtime, among other charges.

The Iowa labor commissioner has referred 57 alleged cases of child-labor violations to the state attorney general for prosecution.

Culver, a Democrat, also recounted the company’s history of safety and environmental violations, and called the latest violations “alarming.”

Meanwhile, Agriprocessors faces $101,000 in fines. The penalties were announced last Friday by the Iowa Division of Labor Services.

According to media reports, the citations and penalties are for 31 new and repeat violations of workplace safety standards. The citations were issued during a July 8 safety inspection. They included failures to provide safety railings on raised work platforms, failure to properly store compressed gas cylinders, improper use of temporary wiring and failure to properly guard moving equipment. Agriprocessors will have 15 days to respond to the citations and proposed fines.
JTA contributed to this report.

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