News Archives
 

August 2008

Foreign Farm Workers Unionize: A First in BC
The historic certification was granted with the support of more than 75 per cent of the roughly 40 affected workers. Never before had B.C.'s Labour Relations Board approved a union to represent workers brought to Canada under the federal Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program... FULL STORY

Agriprocessors Reacts to Child Labor Allegations
Labor organizers and workers have also accused the company of exploiting its employees, tolerating abusive behavior by managers and illegally hiring teenagers to work on the factory floor. A few Jewish groups have questioned whether the plant, given its problems, should keep its kosher certification.  ... FULL STORY

Kosher Slaughterhouse Owners Surrounded by Scandal
Labor organizers and workers have also accused the company of exploiting its employees, tolerating abusive behavior by managers and illegally hiring teenagers to work on the factory floor. A few Jewish groups have questioned whether the plant, given its problems, should keep its kosher certification.  ... FULL STORY

Inquiry Finds Under-Age Workers at Plant
State labor investigators have identified 57 under-age workers who were employed at Agriprocessors, and have asked the attorney general to bring criminal charges against the company for child labor violations. ... FULL STORY

Mr. President, Stop Your Raids on Our Communities
As members of Congress, we have traveled to remote corners of the world and had our eyes opened to some of the worst human suffering imaginable-abject poverty, meager wages, poor working conditions, paltry access to legal counsel and a jarring lack of fairness in the courts. ... FULL STORY

Captives of the Meatpacking Archipelago
All across the Midwest there are meatpacking towns just like Postville, Iowa, tiny hamlets dominated by a big employer whose misdeeds a lot of people suspect, but whom no one dares to cross--especially the employees ... FULL STORY

Child labor investigation complete
The Iowa Labor Commissioner’s Office has completed an intensive child labor investigation at Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville. The investigation, which spanned several months, has produced 57 cases, with multiple child labor violations in each case. ... FULL STORY

Where's Enforcement of Labor Laws?
Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel "The Jungle" had an impact. But in some ways, the response missed the mark. People were more concerned about rats in their meat than about the abuse of immigrant workers. Sinclair reportedly said he had aimed the book at the public's heart but accidentally hit the stomach. A century later, Americans need to get in touch with their hearts. ... FULL STORY

Iowa Rally Protests Raid and Conditions at Plant
About 1,000 people, including Hispanic immigrants, Catholic clergy members, rabbis and activists, marched through the center of this farm town on Sunday and held a rally at the entrance to a kosher meatpacking plant that was raided in May... FULL STORY