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Sep 9, 1:44 PM EDT
Iowa files child labor charges against meat plant
By HENRY C. JACKSON
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The Iowa attorney general's office filed child labor charges Tuesday against the owner and managers of the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant, the site of one of the nation's largest workplace immigration raids.
The complaint alleges more than 9,000 violations of Iowa's child labor law at the plant in Postville, saying the violations involved 32 children under age 18, including seven who were younger than 16.
An affidavit said children were exposed to dry ice and chlorine solutions and were operating conveyor belts, meat grinders, circular saws, power washers and power shears.
The attorney general's office said the violations occurred from Sept. 9, 2007, to May 12, 2008, when the plant was raided by federal immigration agents.
Charged are plant owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin; former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin; human resources manager Elizabeth Billmeyer; and Laura Althouse and Karina Freund, management employees in the company's human resources division.
"All of the named individual defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens. It was likewise shared knowledge among the defendants that many of those workers were minors," the affidavit said.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SLAUGHTERHOUSE_CHILD_LABOR?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Iowa files child labor charges against meat plant
By HENRY C. JACKSON
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The Iowa attorney general's office filed child labor charges Tuesday against the owner and managers of the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant, the site of one of the nation's largest workplace immigration raids.
The complaint alleges more than 9,000 violations of Iowa's child labor law at the plant in Postville, saying the violations involved 32 children under age 18, including seven who were younger than 16.
An affidavit said children were exposed to dry ice and chlorine solutions and were operating conveyor belts, meat grinders, circular saws, power washers and power shears.
The attorney general's office said the violations occurred from Sept. 9, 2007, to May 12, 2008, when the plant was raided by federal immigration agents.
Charged are plant owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin; former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin; human resources manager Elizabeth Billmeyer; and Laura Althouse and Karina Freund, management employees in the company's human resources division.
"All of the named individual defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens. It was likewise shared knowledge among the defendants that many of those workers were minors," the affidavit said.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SLAUGHTERHOUSE_CHILD_LABOR?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
