The Iowa Labour Commissioner's Office said today that it has
uncovered dozens of child labour violations at the United
States' biggest supplier of kosher meat.
Labour officials said their investigation, which spanned
several months, uncovered 57 cases of child labour law
violations at the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in
Postville, where nearly 400 workers were arrested this spring
in the largest immigration enforcement operation in US
history.
The types of violations included minors working in prohibited
occupations, exceeding allowable hours for youth to work,
failure to obtain work permits, exposure to hazardous
chemicals and working with prohibited tools.
"The investigation brings to light egregious violations of
virtually every aspect of Iowa's child labour laws," Dave
Neil, Iowa Labour Commissioner, said in a statement.
"It is my recommendation that the attorney general's office
prosecute these violations to the fullest extent of the law."
Juda Engelmayer, an Agriprocessors spokesman, declined to
comment.
Federal immigration agents arrested 389 illegal-immigrant
workers, mostly Guatemalans, in a May 12 raid at the
Agriprocessors plant. Most of the arrested workers pleaded
guilty within a week and are serving sentences in federal
prisons outside Iowa before being deported.
Allegations of child labour violations were included in an
initial affidavit and a search warrant that led to the raid
at Agriprocessors, which also operates a plant near Gordon,
Nebraska. Under Iowa law, it is illegal for children under
the age of 18 to work in meatpacking plants.
A spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, the agency that
oversees the labour commission, said the number of violations
is much larger than what is typically found in the state of
Iowa.
"Typically, when we have child labour issues it's an issue of
one or two individuals," said spokeswoman Kerry Koonce.
"From our point of view, with this investigation, it's a
large-scale violation of the law." Koonce said the full
report was not being made public because it is a part of a
criminal investigation.
Labour officials say the child labour violations would
normally be turned over to the county attorney's office, but
in this case will most likely be handed over the Iowa
attorney general at the county's request.
The attorney general's office said it could not comment on
what penalties are possible, and state officials declined to
release details on how many children may be involved or their
ages.
Several underage workers who said they were employed at the
plant have spoken out since the raid about their experiences.
At a meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus last month in Postville, 17-year-old Noel Castillo
Ordonez said he had worked long hours at the plant to support
his family in Guatemala.
"I needed money for my family, because I could not help
them," he said in Spanish.
At the same meeting, 17-year-old Gilda Yolanda Ordonez Lopez
openly wept as she described being forced to work shifts as
long as 12 hours with no overtime pay.
"They asked me how old I was, and I told them the truth,"
Lopez said.
State labour officials say they are still investigating some
wage violations at the plant.
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