By
Avram Lyon
Advertisments have appeared recently in a Guatemalan newspaper for men to work at a meat packing plant in Postville, IA. The only meat packing plant in Postville, is the Agriprocessor plant, the object of a raid by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on May 12. This is not the first time Guatemalan workers have been recruited to work in Postville, and when a worker comes to Iowa he does so at considerable cost. Since most undocumented workers do not have visas for employment in the United States they pay a “coyote,” a human trafficker, to bring them into the country. Usually, the coyote charges the worker $4,000 - $5,000. The fact that the worker doesn’t have all the money to pay the coyote hardly matters. The coyote knows which village the worker comes from and the relatives of the worker. The coyote knows he will collect the money, one way or another.
If he comes to this country with his wife, the price is double. If he comes with his wife and a child, the price is triple (no discounts).
The worker then travels quietly from the US border to Postville, possibly with the help of a pre-arranged “temp” agency or recruiter, again at a cost.
When the potential worker arrives in Postville he is often directed by current employees to talk to a supervisor at Agriprocessors who can guarantee employment ... but at a price. The supervisor demands that the new recruit purchase a used car from him, usually for an absurd amount. The most common price for such a vehicle I heard from workers I interviewed was $3,500. Workers might complain that they have no money to buy a car. It doesn’t matter. The supervisor tells workers they can pay a small amount each week until the debt is paid. I interviewed a 15 year old undocumented worker, two weeks ago who had been in Postville for six months. He didn’t know how to drive when he “bought” a car (he does now). He doesn’t have a driver’s license and doesn’t have auto insurance.
Once the car is paid for the worker is often forced to buy another car. This time to ensure he keeps his job. The worker needs to buy fake credentials to show the employer in order to get a job. If he doesn’t have credentials, there are those associated with the plant that know where they can be obtained --- again, at a price. Even workers with valid papers are often told they need to purchase fake ones.
Before the worker starts his first day on the job, he is in debt $7,000 to $10,000 … or more. People often ask why these workers don’t leave if the work is so dangerous, the pay so poor, and the exploitation so terrible.
The answer is indentured servitude.
True, this form of economic slavery is voluntary. No one forced these people to come to the US illegally and Agriprocessors was not holding a sword over their head. Workers were free to quit. But it is indentured servitude nonetheless, and once in Postville the worker can’t afford to leave.
For someone with little or no education and in a foreign country illegally, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know. Fear and inertia are powerful forces, and for a poor person from a third-world country a full belly, a roof over your head and good schools for children in a bucolic country setting are powerful inducements to stay. Under such circumstances people will put up with a lot. Like our grandparents who worked in sweatshops on the lower east side of New York, these immigrants want their children to have a chance at a better life.
Nevertheless many, many people left Postville after they paid off their initial debts, unwilling to take the injuries, shorted paychecks, sexual harassment and the insulting treatment that prevailed. There are always jobs available in Postville.
Attempts by Agriprocessors to recruit new workers after the raid appear not to have been successful. The first group of workers the Rubashkin family tried to recruit were Native Americans raided from the Rubashkin owned Local Pride slaughterhouse in Gordon, NB. They were enticed by promises of a signing bonus and good pay. After being in Postville a week, most of these workers left to return home, angry and disgusted by the treatment they received at Agriprocessors. Two of the workers had been injured on the job and they reported that supervisors refused to send them to a doctor. I met these workers and others when they were trying to raise gas money for the trip home. They wanted out and didn’t want to wait for pay day.
The second group of workers came from Labor Ready, a temporary agency in Iowa. Within a short period of time the company withdrew 150 workers because of the dangerous conditions at the Agriprocessor plant. About two weeks ago a third group of workers arrived from Texas through another temporary firm, the Bravo Labor Agency. A tough looking crew, all with good papers, they appeared to be up to the task. I understand the last recruit from Texas left Postville a week ago. Conditions at Agriprocessors have not changed.
The shortage of workers willing to put up with such treatment is probably why ads have appeared at the end of May in Pensa Libre, a Guatemalan newspaper, for workers needed in a meat processing plant in Postville Iowa. I have no doubt that a small, steady stream of desperate undocumented workers is now on its way from Guatemala to Postville, IA and these workers will face the same conditions of indentured servitude faced by previous groups. The conditions that existed prior to the May 12, 2008 ICE raid at Agriprocessors, still confront workers today.
QUOTE: July 29th, 2008 - 17:01:17 By ecoben (reported today on ABC News online)
Protesters Rally Against Immigration Raid in Iowa
Hundreds gather in small Iowa town to protest federal immigration raid of meatpacking plant
By HENRY C. JACKSON Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
POSTVILLE, Iowa
About a thousand protesters descended on a small town in northeastern Iowa on Sunday, decrying the raid of a meatpacking plant that arrested nearly 400 residents and calling for a change in federal immigration policies.
Postville, a town with about 2,200 residents, was pushed to the forefront of a national debate when federal immigration officials raided Agriprocessors — the nation's biggest kosher meatpacking plant — in May in the largest raid of its kind in the United States. Most of those arrested were Guatemalan and Mexican nationals who lived in the area.
Sunday's protesters — many arriving by bus from the Twin Cities and Chicago — circled the streets of Postville on a route about a mile long. Some clutched banners and signs such as one that read, "United for immigrant and worker rights."
Rabbi Harold Kravitz of the Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, Minn., spoke when the rally paused near the driveway of Agriprocessors, on the outskirts of town.
Shouting into a portable microphone, he said the protesters wanted to stop the criminalization of people who come to the U.S. simply to make a living.
"People have come here from Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Chicago, New York and New Jersey ... because we care," Kravitz said.
The rally also drew about 75 anti-immigration protesters.
Claire Jamison, who said she'd traveled from Minneapolis, wore a hat emblazoned with a U.S. Border Patrol logo and held a sign reading "What would Jesus do? Obey the law."
"I'm just so fed up as an American. We have laws. Why can't they obey our laws?" Jamison said. "I empathize with those people, but they are not victims. They should not have even been here."
About a half-dozen Agriprocessors workers stood watching the rally from just inside the company's gates.
Getzel Rubashkin, an Agriprocessors employee and a member of the family that owns it, approached reporters outside of the plant as the rally moved on. He said it was unfair to blame his family and Agriprocessors for the raid and suggested that unspecified competitors and enemies of the plant were behind the enforcement action.
"Agriprocessors doesn't have a position on immigration reform ... it's a business," Rubashkin said, emphasizing that he was not speaking on behalf of the company.
Many residents appeared largely supportive. Cindy Moser, 53, from nearby Elkader, said her daughter and son-in-law were marching while she watched her two grandchildren.
"If they want to come and work here I say fine," Moser said. "We all saw the effect of this. My grandson, he told me, 'Grandma, they took my friends away.' I hope this stops."
Resident Dave Hartley, 50, said he didn't fault protesters for coming to his town to make their point.
"It's not their fault," he said. "It just didn't need to get to this, to a boiling point. People knew what was going on in there, in Agriprocessors, and this could have been dealt with another way."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
I am in Postville now for the Good People Fund. Will be back in NJ Monday and will happy to provide an update.
Avi
Protesters Rally Against Immigration Raid in Iowa
Hundreds gather in small Iowa town to protest federal immigration raid of meatpacking plant
By HENRY C. JACKSON Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
POSTVILLE, Iowa
About a thousand protesters descended on a small town in northeastern Iowa on Sunday, decrying the raid of a meatpacking plant that arrested nearly 400 residents and calling for a change in federal immigration policies.
Postville, a town with about 2,200 residents, was pushed to the forefront of a national debate when federal immigration officials raided Agriprocessors — the nation's biggest kosher meatpacking plant — in May in the largest raid of its kind in the United States. Most of those arrested were Guatemalan and Mexican nationals who lived in the area.
Sunday's protesters — many arriving by bus from the Twin Cities and Chicago — circled the streets of Postville on a route about a mile long. Some clutched banners and signs such as one that read, "United for immigrant and worker rights."
Rabbi Harold Kravitz of the Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, Minn., spoke when the rally paused near the driveway of Agriprocessors, on the outskirts of town.
Shouting into a portable microphone, he said the protesters wanted to stop the criminalization of people who come to the U.S. simply to make a living.
"People have come here from Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Chicago, New York and New Jersey ... because we care," Kravitz said.
The rally also drew about 75 anti-immigration protesters.
Claire Jamison, who said she'd traveled from Minneapolis, wore a hat emblazoned with a U.S. Border Patrol logo and held a sign reading "What would Jesus do? Obey the law."
"I'm just so fed up as an American. We have laws. Why can't they obey our laws?" Jamison said. "I empathize with those people, but they are not victims. They should not have even been here."
About a half-dozen Agriprocessors workers stood watching the rally from just inside the company's gates.
Getzel Rubashkin, an Agriprocessors employee and a member of the family that owns it, approached reporters outside of the plant as the rally moved on. He said it was unfair to blame his family and Agriprocessors for the raid and suggested that unspecified competitors and enemies of the plant were behind the enforcement action.
"Agriprocessors doesn't have a position on immigration reform ... it's a business," Rubashkin said, emphasizing that he was not speaking on behalf of the company.
Many residents appeared largely supportive. Cindy Moser, 53, from nearby Elkader, said her daughter and son-in-law were marching while she watched her two grandchildren.
"If they want to come and work here I say fine," Moser said. "We all saw the effect of this. My grandson, he told me, 'Grandma, they took my friends away.' I hope this stops."
Resident Dave Hartley, 50, said he didn't fault protesters for coming to his town to make their point.
"It's not their fault," he said. "It just didn't need to get to this, to a boiling point. People knew what was going on in there, in Agriprocessors, and this could have been dealt with another way."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
QUOTE: July 2nd, 2008 - 08:14:44 By Grif Great, so on points one and two then why did you start this argument in the first place? You argued against this as a labor union problem not a Jewish problem: "There are those who say this is not a Jewish issue but a meat industry issue. They're nuts." "It is only the Jewish community that can solve the problem." Now you're arguing as though my argument was your stance all along. I'm glad you are a consultant for UFCW, but if so, then how could you have missed the union angle on this from the very start of this thread? Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm supposed to read all your other posts everywhere else to determine what you really believe, but here you argued from the start on this thread that this was all about the tarnished Jewish image. An odd tack for a union guy to take in the face of worker abuse. The real issue here for you, I suspect, is that you just like to argue - about something, no matter what you really believe.
I don't understand why this must be viewed so binarily This is of course a shameful labor problem and part of the bigger immigration issue but it is also something that is uniquely a problem for the Jewish community and something that the Jewish community, with its historical ties to the labor movement and (over a longer period) to workers' rights, is uniquely able to address. This is a small market with a focused and accessible client base and as a result a boycott can have a significant impact. For example, dozens of Jewish summer camps are boycotting the company this summer. For the meat industry as a whole, losing several thousand customers is insignificant but within the kosher market, for a company to lose these customers and have these young future customers learn about ethical Kashrut can have a significant effect on this company and on the future of the Kosher meat industry as a whole. Likewise, Jewish organizations are large consumers of kosher meat products and in asking them to boycott and to educate their consumers a large segment of the market can be reached and educated in a way that is unparalleled in the broader meat industry. This is a uniquely Jewish issue because Jewish law is very clear about workers' rights and so as a community, Jews not only have a religious obligation to answer to a "higher authority" in how they eat but also in what they expect of the companies that provide the food. Even if some of what Agriprocessors has done doesn't violate US law, it violates Jewish law and therefore should be unacceptable within the market for kosher meat.
QUOTE: July 1st, 2008 - 08:31:02 By Avi 1) I am a consultant for the UFCW which represents the majority of organized packing house workers.
2) I have said early on, and many blogs, that these workers desperately need a union. The day after all the hoopla ends there will be no protection for the workers. There is nothing to stop a reoccurance of the oppression that has taken place unless these workers have a union to stand up for them.
3) The UFCW is part of Change to Win, not the AFL-CIO. Hopefully some day they will reunite.
4) All of the above deals with a problem on the micro level. But there is a huge problem on the macro level and that is the problem of comprehensive immigration reform.
The problems at Agri are multi-faceted.
Great, so on points one and two then why did you start this argument in the first place? You argued against this as a labor union problem not a Jewish problem: "There are those who say this is not a Jewish issue but a meat industry issue. They're nuts." "It is only the Jewish community that can solve the problem." Now you're arguing as though my argument was your stance all along. I'm glad you are a consultant for UFCW, but if so, then how could you have missed the union angle on this from the very start of this thread? Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm supposed to read all your other posts everywhere else to determine what you really believe, but here you argued from the start on this thread that this was all about the tarnished Jewish image. An odd tack for a union guy to take in the face of worker abuse. The real issue here for you, I suspect, is that you just like to argue - about something, no matter what you really believe.
QUOTE: June 30th, 2008 - 17:40:38 By Grif Yes Avi, the Jewish community can withhold certification and not buy kosher from Agri -- and that is a major step toward righting this wrong, but what you are missing is that for the problem to be permanently resolved the workers need to be organized into the AFL-CIO with a strong union that hopefully encompasses all the packing house workers all the time. If not, we'll be facing this same problem over and over again. That is why it is not just a Jewish problem to be resolved by Jews - it is a problem to be resolved by the Jewish community in tandem with organized labor. Boycotts come and go, once they are gone the company reverts to its old behavior. Agri workers need a strong union and that ain't just a Jewish problem.
1) I am a consultant for the UFCW which represents the majority of organized packing house workers.
2) I have said early on, and many blogs, that these workers desperately need a union. The day after all the hoopla ends there will be no protection for the workers. There is nothing to stop a reoccurance of the oppression that has taken place unless these workers have a union to stand up for them.
3) The UFCW is part of Change to Win, not the AFL-CIO. Hopefully some day they will reunite.
4) All of the above deals with a problem on the micro level. But there is a huge problem on the macro level and that is the problem of comprehensive immigration reform.
QUOTE: June 28th, 2008 - 13:28:04 By Avi Abuse is abuse. It know's no religious or ethnic boundary.
What makes this particular case a Jewish issue is that this plant would not exist were it not for the fact that it produces kosher meat and poultry.
"The Jewish community alone cannot for long solve the abuse of labor in kosher plants,.."
Wrong. It is only the Jewish community that can solve the problem by a) withholding "kosher certification" from a product made in a plant that oppresses workers, and; b) hitting the company where it hurts most - in the pocketbook. Non-Jews may buy kosher products, but Jews are the backbone of the kosher marketplace. Rubashkin knows that. Next week they are mounting a massive public relations campaign in Jewish newspapers trying to stem the tide of market share loss.
Yes Avi, the Jewish community can withhold certification and not buy kosher from Agri -- and that is a major step toward righting this wrong, but what you are missing is that for the problem to be permanently resolved the workers need to be organized into the AFL-CIO with a strong union that hopefully encompasses all the packing house workers all the time. If not, we'll be facing this same problem over and over again. That is why it is not just a Jewish problem to be resolved by Jews - it is a problem to be resolved by the Jewish community in tandem with organized labor. Boycotts come and go, once they are gone the company reverts to its old behavior. Agri workers need a strong union and that ain't just a Jewish problem.
We could argue to no real effect whether packing plants were first located at rail heads in urban areas where the mass of labor was situated or whether they wanted to be closer to the chickens all along, or whether union busting first had to wait for right-work-laws or just relied on brute force and later flight, but none of the above is of real concern. We both agree that Agriprocessors' behavior is beyond the pale and that their workers need a strong union.
Where we differ is here:
"Of course I care about other issues. But as someone who keeps a kosher home, this hits me where I live and I think it is something we as Jews should be particularly concerned about. We need to clean our own house."
As a gentile I don't see this as an "other issue" because it's a kosher packing plant. Jewish businessmen are clearly just as capable of hypocrisy and exploitation as Christians and the rest. Horrendous working conditions in a kosher plant in Iowa is not a Jewish issue that falls under "cleaning our own house." It is an American issue that falls under "rebuilding organized labor," and the inherent conflict between capital and labor. Once we start viewing these issues as falling under separate houses, Jewish or otherwise, then we begin to splinter, something the opposition never does. The Jewish community alone cannot for long solve the abuse of labor in kosher plants, or in any other Jewish-owned businesses that act the same, everyone must stand and act together.
Abuse is abuse. It know's no religious or ethnic boundary.
What makes this particular case a Jewish issue is that this plant would not exist were it not for the fact that it produces kosher meat and poultry.
"The Jewish community alone cannot for long solve the abuse of labor in kosher plants,.."
Wrong. It is only the Jewish community that can solve the problem by a) withholding "kosher certification" from a product made in a plant that oppresses workers, and; b) hitting the company where it hurts most - in the pocketbook. Non-Jews may buy kosher products, but Jews are the backbone of the kosher marketplace. Rubashkin knows that. Next week they are mounting a massive public relations campaign in Jewish newspapers trying to stem the tide of market share loss.
QUOTE: June 24th, 2008 - 16:45:59 By Avi "it is a worker's rights issue, an issue far larger than "answering to a higher authority." If they weren't producing kosher you wouldn't care? The entire meat processing industry has been returning to "The Jungle" for decades, yet your sole concern appears to be whether its good for the Tribe or not."
Grif:
I suggest you look at articles I have written about the treatment of workers at Smithfield. One appeared for example, in the FORWARD at the end of Dec, 2007.
Of course I care about other issues. But as someone who keeps a kosher home, this hits me where I live and I think it is something we as Jews should be particularly conerned about. We need to clean our own house.
Agri is a contract grower. They are surrounded by chicken and beef farmers who grow birds for example, under contract for delivery to the plant. The longer the commute from farm to plant, the greater the weight loss of the birds. Most processing plants are located in rural settings exactly for that reason. The development of right-to-work laws followed AFTER agri-businesses were established, not the other way around.
That doesn't mean that companies did not relocate to take advantage or weak state labor laws - they did.
But the driving force behind Agri's founding in Postville had more to do with the availability of the old Hygrade plant which Rubashkin bought for a song and a dance, and farmers in the surrounding community looking to grow anything that someone would buy. Make no mistake, Agriprocessors is the number one engine driving the economy in the northeast corner of Iowa. The fact that they are doing so on the backs of poor, frightened, undocumented workers, eaisly taken advantage of and who are paid a pitance is unaccepatable. These workers need a union.
Finally, I may not be able to solve the entire meat industry undocumented worker problem. I may not be able to solve the Smithfield problem. But I think we as a community can solve this one and I'm ready to fight to make that happen.
Avi,
We could argue to no real effect whether packing plants were first located at rail heads in urban areas where the mass of labor was situated or whether they wanted to be closer to the chickens all along, or whether union busting first had to wait for right-work-laws or just relied on brute force and later flight, but none of the above is of real concern. We both agree that Agriprocessors' behavior is beyond the pale and that their workers need a strong union.
Where we differ is here:
"Of course I care about other issues. But as someone who keeps a kosher home, this hits me where I live and I think it is something we as Jews should be particularly concerned about. We need to clean our own house."
As a gentile I don't see this as an "other issue" because it's a kosher packing plant. Jewish businessmen are clearly just as capable of hypocrisy and exploitation as Christians and the rest. Horrendous working conditions in a kosher plant in Iowa is not a Jewish issue that falls under "cleaning our own house." It is an American issue that falls under "rebuilding organized labor," and the inherent conflict between capital and labor. Once we start viewing these issues as falling under separate houses, Jewish or otherwise, then we begin to splinter, something the opposition never does. The Jewish community alone cannot for long solve the abuse of labor in kosher plants, or in any other Jewish-owned businesses that act the same, everyone must stand and act together.
QUOTE: June 16th, 2008 - 14:29:02 By Cheri A horrible injustice is going on, and whether you perceive it as a Jewish issue, a workers issue, an immigration issue, or a food ethics issue,if it moves you to take action, can we really say that the motivation is illigitimate? It seems like both Grif and his "shmuish" colleague have important constituencies that could be harnessed to help right this situation.
First, I would ask that people go to the Uri L'Tzedek website and sign the petition.
Secondly, a mechanism must be found for workers to have a voice in the affairs of this company that impact their lives. They need protection and the best protection for workers is a union of their choosing that looks out for their interestes and can speak on their behalf.
Third, it would probably be in the best interest of the Jewish community if this plant changed hands. The Rubashkin's have lost the confidence of the community and will never be trusted again.
QUOTE: June 15th, 2008 - 09:54:37 By Grif "There are those who say this is not a Jewish issue but a meat industry issue. They're nuts."
Jewish Shmuish, it is a worker's rights issue, an issue far larger than "answering to a higher authority." If they weren't producing kosher you wouldn't care? The entire meat processing industry has been returning to "The Jungle" for decades, yet your sole concern appears to be whether its good for the Tribe or not. And you worked in organized labor for years? And by the way, meat packers did not move to Iowa "because it is cheaper to be near the beef, grain, etc and ship finished product directly to market," they moved to Iowa to be farther away from the labor unions, and those workers supportive of unions, in the northern tier of Midwestern states. Meat packing when unionized was once a middle class blue collar occupation. The processors' flight to states with weak union support and/or right-to-work laws changed all that. Now its a form of neo-slavery, whether they're packing kosher or not, whether they're Jewish or not.
"it is a worker's rights issue, an issue far larger than "answering to a higher authority." If they weren't producing kosher you wouldn't care? The entire meat processing industry has been returning to "The Jungle" for decades, yet your sole concern appears to be whether its good for the Tribe or not."
Grif:
I suggest you look at articles I have written about the treatment of workers at Smithfield. One appeared for example, in the FORWARD at the end of Dec, 2007.
Of course I care about other issues. But as someone who keeps a kosher home, this hits me where I live and I think it is something we as Jews should be particularly conerned about. We need to clean our own house.
Agri is a contract grower. They are surrounded by chicken and beef farmers who grow birds for example, under contract for delivery to the plant. The longer the commute from farm to plant, the greater the weight loss of the birds. Most processing plants are located in rural settings exactly for that reason. The development of right-to-work laws followed AFTER agri-businesses were established, not the other way around.
That doesn't mean that companies did not relocate to take advantage or weak state labor laws - they did.
But the driving force behind Agri's founding in Postville had more to do with the availability of the old Hygrade plant which Rubashkin bought for a song and a dance, and farmers in the surrounding community looking to grow anything that someone would buy. Make no mistake, Agriprocessors is the number one engine driving the economy in the northeast corner of Iowa. The fact that they are doing so on the backs of poor, frightened, undocumented workers, eaisly taken advantage of and who are paid a pitance is unaccepatable. These workers need a union.
Finally, I may not be able to solve the entire meat industry undocumented worker problem. I may not be able to solve the Smithfield problem. But I think we as a community can solve this one and I'm ready to fight to make that happen.
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