Agriprocessors Hit With $10 Million in Fines
Agriprocessors, the largest kosher meat company in the country until recently, has been hit with nearly $10 million in fines for withholding workers’ wages.
According to the office of the Iowa labor commissioner, who issued the fines on Wednesday, more than 2,000 workers employed by the company had their wages illegally reduced within the past two years. Agriprocessors’ primary slaughterhouse is located in Postville, Iowa.
Agriprocessors was the subject of a federal immigration raid in May, when nearly 400 immigrant workers were arrested. That raid came two years after an article in the Forward raised concerns about the treatment and pay of workers at the plant. In September, the owners of Agriprocessors were charged with over 9,000 separate child labor violations.
There has been a steady flow of fines against Agriprocessors over the last year, but this appears to be the largest single set of fines. A spokesperson for the Iowa labor commissioner’s office said that the fines were the largest the department had ever leveled for wage violations.
Agriprocessors has 30 days in which to contest the fines. Company spokespeople could not be reached for comment.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
