Labor Department Goes After Postville, IA, Employer

Among the demonstrators protesting the ICE raids at Postville. IA, (See posting for July 28, 2008) were a few Jewish rabbis and labor activists equally protesting how the employers generally treated their workers. The Labor Department has finally gotten around to charging the kosher meat plant, Agriprocessors Inc., with hiring under-aged workers. (See NY Times article.) The charges only point up that undocumented workers are vulnerable not only to deportation, but also to exploitation by employers who trade on their uncertain status.