Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Inquiry Finds Under-Age Workers at Meat Plant State labor investigators have identified 57 under-age workers who were employed at a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and have asked the attorney general to bring criminal charges against the company for child labor violations, Dave Neil, the Iowa Labor Commissioner, said on Tuesday. “The investigation brings to light egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa’s child labor laws,” Mr. Neil said in a statement announcing the results of a seven-month investigation at Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meat plant. In a raid in May, 389 illegal immigrant workers were detained there in the largest immigration enforcement operation ever at a single workplace. Mr. Neil said that investigators had found multiple child labor law violations for each under-age worker at the plant. They included employing minors in prohibited occupations, exposing them to hazardous chemicals, and making them work with prohibited tools like knives and saws, he said....

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