Agriprocessors ‘categorically denies’ child labor charges

A spokesman for Agriprocessors, the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the nation and Postville’s largest employer, is firing back at Iowa Labor Commissioner Dave Neil for Tuesday’s “inflammatory” remarks.

Menachem Lubinsky, president of marketing consulting company Lubicom and spokesman for Agriprocessors, released a public statement Wednesday afternoon to outline what the meatpacking plant and its management has done in relation to the child labor investigation.

“Agriprocessors’ published ‘job orders’ — notices seeking applicants for open positions — always specify that applicants must be at least 18 years old,” he said. “It has been and always will be our policy never to hire underage workers. Applicants sometimes falsify their ages in order to gain employment.”

Lubinsky added that four women were fired in 2007 when the companies human resources department discovered the employees had falsified their birth dates.

“The Iowa Labor Commissioner initiated an investigation into child labor allegations in January 2008, with a letter to Agri,” Lubinsky said. “Agri cooperated in the investigation and responded promptly, explaining its hiring procedure and stating that, to its knowledge, no minors were then employed at the plant. The Labor Commisser’s Office replied with a request for more detailed information from Agri, and the requested data was supplied 10 days later.”

Lubinsky said that the Iowa Division of Labor conducted an unannounced on-site inspection of the plant on April 3.

“The team walked throughout the facility, viewing the workforce and even questioning certain employees, and identified no minors working at the plant,” he said. “Nonetheless, two weeks later, a government attorney told Agri that the government believed that some Agri employees were underage. Agri asked explicitly that these workers be identified, so that their employment could be terminated. The request was rejected.

“The commissioner’s attorney stated that, before releasing names, she wanted to review Agri’s records to ensure the individuals in question previously worked or are currently working at Agri.”

According to Lubinsky, plant management and staff from the Iowa Division of Labor were scheduled to review employee records on May 21. On May 12, the plant was the site of the nation’s largest single-location immigration raid. A total of 389 workers were detained, nearly all from Guatemala and Mexico.

“On May 12, before that review occurred and before the commissioner identified the supposed underage workers of which he was aware, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] conducted its raid at Postville and arrested persons who claim to be underage and who admit to having obtained employment with false documents,” Lubinsky said.

“Nothwithstanding the leisurely pace of its investigation, the inability of even the government’s expert to identify any employees in the plant as minors, and the refusal to disclose the identities of any employees who the Labor Commissioner believed to be employed in violation of child labor laws, the commissioner has now issued an inflammatory press release alleging that there were ’57 cases’ and ‘egregious violations.’ Agri categorically denies the suggestion that it knowingly hired or retained minors as employees and it protests the issuance of a press release that has patently been motivated by a desire to ride the crest of the wave of current public opinion adverse to Agri.”

On Tuesday, the Iowa Division of Labor announced that an investigation into possible child labor violations at the Agriprocessors plant was complete and that the findings — 57 cases that each have multiple child labor violations — were turned over the Iowa Attorney General’s Office for prosecution. Commissioner Dave Neil described the violations as “egregious” and encouraged criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.

Eric Tabor, chief of staff in the Attorney General’s Office, refused to provide any specifics in relation to the case, including the range of fines and/or punishment associated with the alleged offenses.

Kerry Koonce, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Division of Labor, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that the violations are considered misdemeanor offenses and are carried out against the company, not the company’s individual members of management. She added that the Iowa Attorney General’s Office would make the final determination as to the charges, if any, and the final verdict in the case will determine the penalty.

“They can go back 12 months from the date the investigation was complete and passed to prosecutors,” she said. “In Iowa, the rule of the thumb is roughly $50 per day, per instance.”

The Iowa Division of Labor is continuing to investigate Agriprocessors for general wage violations.