The state of Iowa is imposing fines totaling almost $10 million on the Postville plant that was the site of a record-breaking immigration raid in May. The Iowa Department of Labor is imposing penalties for Agriprocessors' violation of wage laws.
Deductions for "sales tax/miscellaneous" items and frocks were made from employees' paychecks, and the company failed to pay final paychecks to 42 employees after the May raid. The total fines for these violations total $9,988,200. That total does not include the $264,786.45 owed in back wages. Agriprocessors has 30 days to contest the fines, and Meatingplace.com reports that the Labor Department says a separate investigation of the company could lead to further fines.
Greg Schulte and Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register say the fines only add to the uncertainty over whether Agriprocessors will survive, already called into question by a shortage of workers willing to work at the plant. A company spokesman said its beef-slaughtering operation has been shut down this week due to financial constraints. (Read more)
Meanwhile, Agriprocessors' former vice-president and CEO, Sholom Rubashkin, has been charged with "conspiring to harbor one or more illegal aliens at his place of business, knowingly accepted fraudulent identification documents and aided and abetted identity theft," reports Bob Meyer of Brownfield Network.
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