Postville, IA – In an effort to restore lagging production at its plant in Postville, Iowa, the country’s largest kosher meat producer has been hiring workers from homeless shelters in Texas to replace employees detained in a massive federal immigration raid last month.
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According to a spokesman for the meat producer Agriprocessors, workers are recruited by a firm in Amarillo, Texas, and sent to Postville. Once there, they are processed by Jacobson Staffing, a Des Moines-based company that screens them for drugs and alcohol and ensures they are legally permitted to work in the United States.
Several officials in Postville say the new arrivals have created problems for the town.
Postville Police Chief Michael Halse told JTA that his officers had arrested four plant workers for disorderly conduct this week.
Father Paul Ouderkirk, leader of the local Catholic church, which has played a lead role in helping former workers and their families after last month’s raid, said a mentally challenged woman from Texas had come to his church looking for help with prescription medications.
And in an interview Friday with Postville’s local radio station, Diana Morris said she spent three days on a bus from Amarillo only to discover she was expected to live with 10 men in a four-bedroom house that had no electricity or hot water.
“Amarillo’s homeless problem has become Postville’s homeless problem,” Jeff Abbas, who runs the KPVL radio station, told JTA.
In a statement Friday to JTA, Jim Martin, Agriprocessors’ newly hired compliance officer, said any allegations that contractors had misled new recruits would be investigated.
“We would note that we do not believe that homeless people should be prohibited from applying for employment from Agriprocessors,” Martin added. “In fact, for the appropriate individuals, we welcome the opportunity to offer them the chance to better their lives.”
Rabbi Seth Mandel, rabbinic coordinator for the Orthodox Union, one of two agencies certifying the plant as kosher, says Agriprocessors merely is responding to the dictates of the market.
“Most consumers will not pay a premium for free-range, natural or organic beef, no matter how much lip service they pay to the idea,” Mandel wrote in an e-mail obtained by JTA. “The same thing holds true regarding employees and their working conditions. Meat packers would [have] no problem with paying higher wages and make working conditions better — IF the consumers would pay the premium price thereby entailed.”
Is it a little odd that JTA’s Harris seems so fixated on finding the wrong in everything Rubashkin does?
Hiring the homeless is not a crime, maybe it is even a mitzvah. Lord, I just don’t understand the damned if you do and damned if you don’t style of journalistic reporting.
Rubashkin hires homeless people and provides them with living quarters, food and salary. What a total lack Tzedek! They ought to be ashamed.
Hell, the reporter and all of those jumping into the fray ought to be ashamed.
What is wrong with Hiring a Homelss person? Infact this is a Miztvah!!!
I don’t think hiring i homeless is a crime, nor a Mitzva. What I do think is that it’s disgusting. (Imagine those smelly drunkards lying in the streets, “clean” and pack your chicken!)
What makes hiring a homeless a Mitzva?
(Maybe he’ll bother less people when he has a job heh?!)
Most consumers will not pay a premium for free-range, natural or organic beef, no matter how much lip service they pay to the idea,” Mandel wrote in an e-mail obtained by JTA. “The same thing holds true regarding employees and their working conditions. Meat packers would [have] no problem with paying higher wages and make working conditions better — IF the consumers would pay the premium price thereby entailed.”
But kosher meat IS Much more expensive!!
how come perdue doesn’t charge a premium price for thier products only the kosher consumer has to pay a premium price
pathetic. they should close down in Iowa and reopen where decent people are looking for honest work. we will just have to pay more.
“Meat packers would [have] no problem with paying higher wages and make working conditions better — IF the consumers would pay the premium price thereby entailed.”
It is funny that Alle Processng and International Glatt and Abeles & Heymann and 999 are all based in New York, pay higher wages AND charge about the same for their products as Rubashkin. If Rubashkin can’t work without low paying employees, how can the others do it?????
Do u want some smelly drunken homeless person cutting and packing your chicken and meat?
According to the *yated* this week in a full page article by Rubashkin they mention how since the Government raid they are hiring top quality workers.
Are we a laughing stock here . Are drunken workes called top quality . I`m about to puke thinking about who is handling the meat that comes in to my mouth . Absolutely discusting. Mr A. Rubashklin . Shape up or ship out , very simple. We are sick and tired of all yoir cover ups and dishonesty. If Alle and other competitors are able to charge similiar to your pricing without being in the national media and with out all the negativity in the publics s eye ,then there is no reason you have to cut corners to do the same thing they are.
Do the right thing and do your buissness with the utmost respect in kashrus as wel as in all other areas of the plant . Kosher does not only mean kosher in the sence of shechita.It means kosher in buisiness practice too and in not causing a chillul hashem.
What we have here is a reporter from the JTA (Harris) who is hell bent on burying this company. Since the ICE raid last month, not a day goes by without some news flash from this reporter or others connected to him.
Obviously, after awhile it seems that there is a story every day.
In this day and age, aany person/ or company can be smeared relentlessly online and by the time the ssue gets cleared peope have already accepted it.
I just look at it as smear campaign by Harris. I dont know the story behind it though.. i would love to know.
Bottom line is that company has been selling product for over 20 years without issues. Now with the labor dispute the lynching of a fellow jews company is quite frankly, shameful.
what a snag lakewood, if you would focus more on Ahavas Yisroel, and veahavta Lereacha Kamoicha, instead of who is shteiging more in the Beis Medresh, or if you are frummer than G-d, maybe Moshiach would actually come. you are jealouse that the Lubavitcher actually made it.
anon: Says:
What we have here is a reporter from the JTA (Harris) who is hell bent on burying this company. Since the ICE raid last month, not a day goes by without some news flash from this reporter or others connected to him.
Obviously, after awhile it seems that there is a story every day.
In this day and age, aany person/ or company can be smeared relentlessly online and by the time the ssue gets cleared peope have already accepted it.
I just look at it as smear campaign by Harris. I dont know the story behind it though.. i would love to know.
Bottom line is that company has been selling product for over 20 years without issues. Now with the labor dispute the lynching of a fellow jews company is quite frankly, shameful.
06-22-2008 – 12:44 AM
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What we have here is another person trying to move our attention from the article and using smoke and mirrors to change the topic.
The company has been selling products for 20 years with plenty of issues. They were swept under the table and ignored.
We all want a legitimate product at affordable prices. We can get it from the 4 companies that are mentioned in blog #06-21-2008 – 9:57 PM. Why is Rubashkin different? Why must they have lower wages than the others? Where does the money go? Why must they have a worse reputation than the others?
We are not bashing a Lubavitch, Cholila. No one ever said that. (Actually, only the Lubavitch said that.) We are bashing an owner who does not play by the same rules as the others and who cries foul everytime he gets caught.
Anonymous Says:
what a snag lakewood, if you would focus more on Ahavas Yisroel, and veahavta Lereacha Kamoicha, instead of who is shteiging more in the Beis Medresh, or if you are frummer than G-d, maybe Moshiach would actually come. you are jealouse that the Lubavitcher actually made it.
06-22-2008 – 1:10 AM
MADE WHAT? THE FRONT PAGES OF THE NEW YORK TIMES? IS THIS WHAT YOU ARE PROUD OF????
The last time I read a similar article it was about a company that was doing the right thing and hiring people from shelters and giving them a chance at a good life!!
Typical liberal BS. As the saying goes, “Go ahead and build shelters, but not in my backyard”.
It is obvious there is an agenda vs. Rubashkin and there is nothing they can do right. It’s not about what they are paying. Let’s investigate the staffing company to see how much of the paycheck they are pocketing.
I dont know the rubashkins. I live out of town. I am only greatfull that in my city there is glatt kosher meat available because of the rubashkins. No one really nows what is going on at their iowa plant. But what we do know is they provide parnossa for thousands of yidden -through employment and the large amounts of tzedakah they give each day. They made it possible for people all over the world to have glatt kosher meat. As jews, we have enough tzoros. Let every one live in peace. Concentrate on making yourself better as a person. Live and Let Live.You would never want to be in their shoes. What people are saying (and most of it is based on hearsay) is destroying us, come on already , ITS EREV TI”Shebov.
There are 4 other meat companies that sell glatt meat that do not make headlines. They all have good hechsharim and the owners are all shomer shabbat, torah umitzvot.
If I can choose another company that treats its workers fairly, I will. And, I did.
Anonymous Says:
I dont know the rubashkins. I live out of town. I am only greatfull that in my city there is glatt kosher meat available because of the rubashkins.
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I guess you ate treif before 1988 when there was no kosher meat in America before the Rubashkins.
And what city was that that had no meat? Monsey???