“The investigation brings to light egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa’s child labor laws,” Mr. Neil said in a statement announcing the results of a seven-month investigation at Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meat plant.
In a raid in May, 389 illegal immigrant workers were detained there in the largest immigration enforcement operation ever at a single workplace.
Mr. Neil said that investigators had found multiple child labor law violations for each under-age worker at the plant. They included employing minors in prohibited occupations, exposing them to hazardous chemicals, and making them work with prohibited tools like knives and saws, he said.
...
After the raid, many of the young workers said they felt they had nothing to lose in speaking out about their work at the plant. In interviews, they said they were forced to work long hours on night shifts, sometimes up to 17 hours a day, and were not paid all of their overtime. They said they were put to work on racing production lines using knives to cut meat and poultry with little or no safety training.
-
-
-
-
- fountaingoats
- added this
- added August 06, 2008
- flag
-
Now those young immigrants have begun to tell investigators about their jobs. Some said they worked shifts of 12 hours or more, wielding razor-edged knives and saws to slice freshly killed beef. Some worked through the night, sometimes six nights a week.
One, a Guatemalan named Elmer L. who said he was 16 when he started working on the plant’s killing floors, said he worked 17-hour shifts, six days a week. In an affidavit, he said he was constantly tired and did not have time to do anything but work and sleep. “I was very sad,” he said, “and I felt like I was a slave.”
This is another effect of the United States' flawed immigration system. The threat of deportation and criminal prosecution keeps workers from protesting to or reporting inhumane working conditions, and in some cases, from being able to leave their jobs.
-
-
-
-
- fountaingoats
- 5 months ago
-
-
It is also standard working conditions in Mexico, get an illegal straight from crossing the border and you can do this to them. In NJ they have to travel a bit and also all their friends know to never work for less than $10/hr. It is a similar distasnce, but the trip to iowa is most likely nothing but roads.
-
-
-
-
- regjoeschmo
- 5 months ago
-
