2008: Breach of child labor alleged - Raided plant accused of multiple violations of child labor laws

[Editor's note: This story was originally published in The Gazette's Wednesday, August 6, 2008 edition.]

A months-long investigation of child labor practices at meatpacker Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville has uncovered 57 cases with multiple child labor law violations, the Iowa Labor Commissioner's Office announced Tuesday.

"The investigation brings to light egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa's child labor laws," said Iowa Labor Commissioner Dave Neil, who recommended that the Attorney General's Office "prosecute these violations to the fullest extent of the law."

The alleged violations include working minors in prohibited occupations, failure to obtain work permits, exceeding the allowable hours for youths to work, exposure to hazardous chemicals and working with prohibited tools. Iowa law prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in meatpacking plants .

"It is Agriprocessors' policy not to hire underage workers, and to terminate any employees who are determined to be under 18 years of age," company spokesman Menachem Lubinsky said Tuesday.

Lubinsky urged people to keep an open mind and wait for the evidence before making any judgments about the allegations.

Allegations of child labor violations were included in an initial affidavit and a search warrant that led to the May 12 raid that resulted in the arrests of 389 Agriprocessors workers. Most of the arrested workers quickly pleaded guilty and are serving five-month prison sentences before being deported.

Kerry Koonce, a spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, the agency that oversees the labor commission, said Iowa's child labor investigation into Agriprocessors began before the federal immigration raid in May, and was independent of the raid.

She said the number of child labor violations announced on Tuesday is much larger than what is typically found in Iowa.

"Typically, when we have child labor issues it's an issue of one or two individuals," Koonce said. "From our point of view, with this investigation, it's a large-scale violation of the law."

Under Iowa law, child labor investigations are forwarded to the applicable county attorney's office for prosecution. But the county -- as the Allamakee County Attorney's Office did in this case -- can turn such cases over to the Iowa Attorney General's Office, which said in a statement Tuesday that it "will enforce Iowa criminal law if there have been violations."

The Labor Commissioner's Office also is investigating general wage violations at the Postville plant .

The labor investigation's conclusions did not surprise Sister Mary McCauley of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, who said post-raid stories of mistreatment of young workers "were enough to break your heart."

McCauley said she is gratified that state labor officials followed through with their investigation.

So is Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, who has urged coordination and cooperation among the state and federal agencies investigating Agriprocessors' hiring and labor practices.

"I'm appalled by what appears to be blatant and widespread violations of Iowa's child labor laws at Agriprocessors," Braley said Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.