The Agriprocessors plants have often been controversial because of frequent citations for illegal practices such as animal abuse, food safety violations, violations of environmental laws, child labor laws, and the recruitment of illegal immigrants and inducing them to work in often dangerous conditions at illegal wages.
The controversies have also split the Jewish communities, raised questions of Jewish ethics, and brought about a new consciousness for a Jewish way of eating beyond fulfilling the technical requirements of kashrut.
In late 2004, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a video filmed undercover at Agriprocessors, showing gory details of cattle having their tracheas and esophagi ripped out of their necks and surviving for minutes after shechita (ritual slaughter). Noted animal welfare expert and meat scientist Dr. Temple Grandin called Agriprocessors procedures an "atrocious abomination" and worse than anything she had ever seen in over 30 kosher abattoirs.
Jewish authorities were split, with former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, David Rosen, and Shechita UK, along with many non-Orthodox rabbis from the Conservative movement, criticizing Agriprocessors, while Orthodox kashrut organizations continued to stand by the kashrut of the meat. Under pressure from the Agriculture Department, the Orthodox Union kosher certification authority, and Israel's chief rabbinate, the plant changed its practices.
In 2005 an internal report from the USDA not only held that Agriprocessors engaged in acts of inhumane slaughter, but that USDA inspectors were sleeping on the job, playing computer games, and had accepted bribes of free meat to ignore violations at the plant.
On June 27, 2006, at the suggestion of Rabbi Menachem Genack of the Orthodox Union, Dr. Grandin toured the facility. According to the Orthodox Union, Dr. Grandin was satisfied with what she saw. In 2008, though, Grandin reported that Agriprocessors had again become "sloppy" in their slaughter operation and was "in the bottom 10%" of slaughterhouses.
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Another PETA undercover video, reportedly taken on August 13, 2008, showed violations of the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act, including the use of saw-like, multiple, hacking cuts in the necks of still-conscious animals. Dr. Grandin said the second cuts would “definitely cause the animal pain.” The episode led Grandin to state that slaughterhouse visits were useless for determining proper animal treatment. Grandin suggested that Agriprocessors install internet video cams on the killing floor for constant, independent, oversight.
Pollution
In 2004, city authorities started an investigation against Agriprocessors due to complaints from local residents that the firm routinely deposited untreated effluent into local rivers in breach of regulations. On August 31, 2006, Agriprocessors signed a consent decree where they essentially admitted discharging untreated slaughtering wastewater into the Postville sewer system, in violation of federal and Iowa state law and paid a $600,000 fine for violating waste-water regulations. Untreated wastewater from abattoirs is a heavy burden on wastewater treatment plants because of its high biochemical oxygen demand and high concentration of FOG (Fats, oils, and grease) which can form insoluble plaques in sewage pipes.
Labor relations
In September 2005, workers at Agriprocessors’ distribution site in Brooklyn voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union. The company did not recognize the vote, arguing that it was invalid because management had discovered that many of the workers who participated were in the US illegally, making their votes invalid despite protection granted undocumented workers in the National Labor Relations Act. A National Labor Relations Board judge decided against the company and ordered it to recognize the vote. Workers alleged that Agriprocessors paid low wages, failed to pay overtime and immediately terminated employment of workers who complained about conditions or wages.
On August 20, 2008, Jewish employees at Agriprocessors were reported to have staged a 30-minute walkout over delayed payment of wages and other compensation issues.
In October 2008, the Iowa Labor Commission fined Agriprocessors $9.99 million for various violations of state labor law, including illegally deducting money from employees for safety equipment and failing to pay employees.
Anti-competitive practices
A December 2008 story in the Village Voice featured allegations of sharp business practices by the Rubashkins: intimidating rivals (with threats of physical violence), manipulation of the kosher certification system, collusion with suppliers to withhold supplies from competitors, etc.
Federal immigration raid
On 12 May 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) staged a raid that was described as “largest criminal worksite enforcement operation in U.S. history”. Federal authorities arrested 389 immigrant workers during the raid, 305 of them on criminal charges, 297 were sentenced on federal felony charges for fraud-related offenses. ICE spokesman Tim Counts said that “the raid was aimed at seeking evidence of identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers and for people who are in the country illegally”. According to the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Iowa, those arrested “include 290 Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, 2 Israelis and 4 Ukrainians”.
Sources quoted in the affidavit and application for search warrant alleged the existence of a methamphetamine laboratory at the slaughterhouse, and that employees carried weapons to work. However, later press reports do not indicate that a methamphetamine laboratory was found during the search.
In late July, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with workers and community leaders, after a United States House of Representatives' subcommittee had heard testimony about the raid and its impact on the families and the town, and a rally with some 1,500 participants, organized by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Jewish Community Action and St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church was held in Postville in support of the detained Agriprocessors workers and their families.
The Rubashkin family was reported to have denied any criminal activity; Aaron Rubashkin said that “he had no idea that his workers were illegal and that they had produced what appeared to be legitimate work documents”. Nevertheless, he announced shortly after the raid that he intends to replace his son as the company's CEO. Sholom Rubashkin remained in charge though. He was finally replaced as CEO in September 2008 by Bernard Feldman, a New York attorney who had worked as counsel for the family, after child labor charges against Aaron and Sholom Rubashkin had been announced, and the Orthodox Union had threatened to withdraw their kosher certification.
The ICE raid left the company lacking employees, and it hired Labor Ready to supply "about 150 workers", but these workers stopped working because of alleged safety issues. The Jacobson Staffing company took the job of staffing the plant shortly thereafter. In June 2008, Agriprocessors began hiring workers from homeless shelters in Texas to replace employees detained in the federal immigration raid.
Public relations
In May 2008, following the federal immigration raid, PostvilleVoices.com, a site that claimed to be "a blog by people who live and work in Postville" and defended the firm's hiring practices, saying that "the people that run Agriprocessors are good, decent, honest people". After Postville residents suspected that this was a case of “astroturfing”, Getzel Rubashkin, son of Sholom Rubashkin, admitted he and two friends created the site.
In June 2008, Agriprocessors retained Jim Martin, a former U.S. Attorney, as the company's outside CCO, hired 5W Public Relations to repair its public image, and Lubicom, a kosher consulting and PR firm headed by Menachem Lubinsky, to present its case to the New York Jewish community. Lubinsky was quoted as saying he “expected 5W to deal with negative publicity and blogs”. Shortly thereafter, suspicious posts defending the company appeared on Jewish blogs critical of the company. Shmarya Rosenberg, author of the Failed Messiah blog, uncovered that two posts under the name of Rabbi Morris Allen of Hechsher Tzedek, a critic of Agriprocessors, were part of a sockpuppeting scheme. Similar comments impersonating Rabbi Allen were found on the websites of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) and Vos Iz Neias. Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5W, admitted that a “senior staff member failed to be transparent in dealing with client matters.”
Comments by Iowa Governor
In August 2008, Iowa Governor Chet Culver commented on Agriprocessors:
Before the federal raid, Agriprocessors already had a history of sanctions by Iowa’s state regulatory agencies for water pollution, as well as health and safety law violations. Alarming information about working conditions at the Postville plant - including allegations ranging from the use of child labor in prohibited jobs to sexual and physical abuse by supervisors; from the nonpayment of regular and overtime wages to the denial of immediate medical attention for workplace injuries - brought to national attention by the raid forces me to believe that, in contrast to our state’s overall economic-development strategy, this company’s owners have deliberately chosen to take the low road in its business practices.
He also directed Iowa state agencies to prohibit Agriprocessors from listing their jobs on state job lists, and ordered his Attorney General to prosecute all violations backed by sufficient evidence.
