Iowa Fines AgriProcessors for Labor Violations
The country’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, already under scrutiny for its labor practices, took another hit last week when Iowa state officials fined it $182,000.
The Iowa Division of Labor cited AgriProcessors for a broad range of recent health and safety violations, including a failure to provide workers with proper safety training, insufficient programs to manage blood-born pathogens and a failure to label toxic chemicals. Some of the 39 citations, related to safety procedures for using hazardous equipment, were repeat violations.
AgriProcessors’ Postville, Iowa, plant is the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the world and has been under scrutiny for its labor record since 2006, when the Forward reported on the working conditions. The reports led the Conservative movement to create a new system that will certify the labor practices of kosher food producers. That system is not yet in place.
Kerry Koonce, a spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, of which the Division of Labor is a part, said that both the number of citations and the size of the fine were unusually large.
“It’s not a record, but it’s definitely up near the top,” she told the Forward.
In a statement, AgriProcessers defended itself, saying, “The company maintains a pro-active program for the safety and health of its employees. Any valid concerns raised by the Iowa Division of Labor Services have been immediately addressed. None of the citation items caused any worker injuries or illness. The company is reviewing the citations and believes many are not substantiated. The company will oppose improper citations.”
AgriProcessors has 15 days to file a formal response to the citations.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
