BBYO & B’nai Brith: Don’t be fooled by emotional, religious and political smokescreens. Demand from the USDA, Rubashkins a statement from the plant veterinarian(s). Iwill be glad to confront those colleages with the right questions, anytime you want me to.
This whole muckraking affair stinls, and not from bad meat.

And refering to the proof of lack of health insurance or health insurance that is to costly and the low wages given out, you can look at the jewish newspaper, The Forward, article on the agriprocessors http://www.forward.com/articles/in-iowa-meat-plant-kosher-‘jungle’-breeds-fea/

The president of the US also said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction......

If we want health care for everyone, we have to force politicians and government to do it.

I am not working for any PR firm (I am just a programmer by trade), I just always say what is right and do not care if it is politically correct, but I take it as a compliment.

It is our duty to make sure that in the jewish community that we make sure our people are not the ones committing these evils. Also that is interesting that you are supporting child labor with that statement you made. You realize that this is not the industrial age in this country anymore.

Does the PR firm you work for know you are making that comment? That’s not very good public relations skills

The people at this plant are injured and can’t go see a doctor
Oh and in response to your boycott question:
First as you have noticed from the BBYO statement, this is not a boycott
Second, I dont go to big box stores such as Wal-Mart because of the terrible effects they have on society, or clothes stores such as H&M who are responsible for using child labor to produce their clothing overseas

To Daniel:
As I stated before, this is not about the citizenship status of the workers at the plant but the way they are being treated, that is why BBYO is not buying from them. It is because their workers are undocumented

“But federal records indicate the company [Agri] chose not to participate in the government’s voluntary program that enables employers to quickly verify the Social Security numbers of job applicants.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080706/NEWS/807060335

Are all the people boycotting Agri participate in the “government’s voluntary program that enables employers to quickly verify the Social Security numbers of job applicants”?

Do the BBYO USA offices and camps participate in this program?

Do a mitzvah and care about people other than yourself

Many people at the plant were injured everyday while being paid below minimum wage, working long hours, and receiving no benefits.

The discussion is not about the workers citizenship or the boarder, its about whether the workers should be treated as badly as they are being treated.

There is never an excuse for wrongdoing, yet the plain truth is that it is more than hard, nearing impossible, to get non immigrants to work at places like this. Even Heineman has illegals - probably not as much.

It’s a slaughterhouse. There is blood, there is sinew, bones, and organs; there are animals sensing death and frightened. It’s everything you’d expect from a the worst slasher films. It’s not for the faint of heart and it is certainly not for the average latte sipping American.

Yes, this was the biggest raid - but not the biggest secret. Virtually the entire farming and agricultural industry is engined by immigrants, many illegal. The hidden secret here is that it’s done. Ask the folks at HIAS - the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and they’ll tell you that they feel for the employers here. They know first hand what is happening all over the country.

One issue may be that Agriprocessors needs to make serious changes to get up to full speed and compliance, but the real issue here is the United States’ immigration policy. It needs fixing and fixing fast. The lesson of Agriprocessors is that this is a problem looming large and will only get worse.

let Agriprocessors fix up and get the meat back on your plates. Chicken is now $7.49/lb - bizarre. People can’t afford that. Meat is even more now.

Let’s focus on the real problem - fixing the U.S. immigration policy. Instead of boycotting the meat company, make an even stronger effort to patronize shops with illegals - show our legislators that this is an issue that they need to take seriously and take it seriously now!

And I don’t keep kosher but I am a vegetarian.

Yes, by boycotting the company’s meat this summer, BBYO is only scratching the surface of a much larger problem. But as the biggest Jewish Youth movement in the world, our scratching will undoubtedly leave a mark and a positive one at that.
No matter what is said in this blog, I assure you that I will be using my power as president of the Los Angeles area to educate fellow members on this issue in terms of how it relates to worker’s rights, immigration reform, and Jewish values. If I have learned anything from BBYO, it’s that it is the duty of each individual to strengthen their Jewish community. Both the aruments supporting Agriprocessor’s behavior and the employers’ compassion for the workers are just plain weak and therefore, I see BBYO’s action as a responsiblity that other’s need to recognize as well.

Given the workforce at Agriprocessors was largely composed of
undocumented workers, the JLC recognizes that these workers need to
be brought into compliance with the law and face the legal consequences of their decisions.  Equally, we support fair treatment of workers regardless of where they were born.  Two employees working side by side are entitled to the same pay and protections under the law. 

Just as the immigrant workers at Agriprocessors need to answer to the
law, so too should the employers.  Employers who threaten and harass
their workers, short their pay, put their health and safety at risk, and
hire children must also be brought into compliance with the law and
face the consequences of their actions.  The conditions under which
documented and undocumented workers endured were clearly contrary
to Jewish values. 

Our country has a tradition of taking advantage of vulnerable
populations and then blaming them for our economic problems. 
Jewish immigrants experienced this acutely at the turn of the century.
Immigrant s are scapegoated as the reason Americans are getting
poorer and are accused for “taking our jobs.” The real problems are
unscrupulous employers who take advantage of a workforce unable
to speak the language, and fearful of arrest and deportation, a broken
immigration policy, unfair trade policies, lopsided labor laws, faulty
mortgage lending practices and a tax system gone awry.  BBYO’s stand is
an opportunity to explore all these issues.

Our Jewish religion and tradition is clear on topic of treating workers
with dignity and respect. Our sacred texts command us to pay workers
decent wages in a timely manner and Jews have a long history of
fighting for the rights of workers. Furthermore, as Jews, we are told
that we must treat our workers decently and justly.

Kol hakavod to them.  Anyone looking how to engage young folks in Judaism?  Acknowledge their leadership!  Talk to these amazing folks over at BBYO, and learn from them.

Is any one here aware that the US Government always has over two dozen USDA inspectors constantly in the plant?

Have we forgotten that multiple agencies (including OSHA) paid regular visits to the plant?

Is any aware that the illegal workers owned homes in Iowa. Obtained mortgages. Drove cars. Received free medical benefits. Their children attended public schools. They played on their sport teams competing with other counties. 

In other words-

The Federal Government,
The State of Iowa
The County
The City

were all aware of these people.

I guess they (all agencies and authorities, including Motor Vehicles, banks, etc.) never asked themselves if the papers presented by these workers were in order.

Yet they were issued: mortgages, licensees, school entrance cards.

But, at least in the opinion of BBYO, it is Agri-Processors that is only culprit!

Maybe Moses has a point.

Are so convinced that what you write is the truth?

Are you ready to testify in court under oath that “the company hired illegal workers so as to insure it would not have to provide its workforce their legal rights, including honest wages”?

Or perhaps you came to that conclusion after reading the media reports?

Or perhpas a mind reader?

“The B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, which will have some 900 Jewish teens at its three overnight camps this summer, says that it is boycotting the company’s meat”.

I think that is cruel. Reminiscent of darker times in history when boycotts against Jews were rampant. And more recent, of Arab boycott of Israeli products.

The only thing Agri-Processors has been accused of so far is hiring illegal workers.

I would advise your camp administrator to make sure that the kitchen and maintenance staff at all your camps have their papers in order.

If i were an Agri-Processor shareholder I would make sure that the ICE/Homeland security raid every site of B’nai B’rith this summer.

When that is done, all your USA offices should be next.

Woe to the BB if they find an illegal worker at thier branches.

BB will of course scream “anti-Semitism”.

Yes. Of course.

ICE vs. B’nai B’rith is anti-Semitism.

B’nai B’rith vs. Agri- Processors is “standing up for human rights.”

And I am absolutely appalled at the obvious strategy adoped by Agriprocessors and its high-powered PR team: attack this youth organization with a truckload of murky spin about how sinful it is to “gossip” about this “innocent” corporation “before all the facts are known.” Plenty are ugly facts are already known! Should we look the other way just because the company produces kosher products?

If Agriprocessors would put just a small fraction of the time and money it is spending to attack BBYO into improving working conditions at their plant, it would truly be a step toward Tikkum Olam.

Roy Sender

Even creating the APPEARANCE of wrong-doing is assur. 

The appropriate response is NOT to riot, accusing the less observant of wrong-doing.  The appropriate response is TESHUVA.

Jewish law requires that we treat our workers with dignity.  We should therefore be holding our kosher manufacturers to a higher standard.  Agriprocessors is not even meeting the standards set by OSHA.  I’m glad that BBYO is involved in this struggle for justice.  Kol ha kavod!

Thanks to Marilyn Sneiderman and the BBYO, many teens are learning a better lesson: just because it’s kosher doesn’t make it right.

Lessee, just how interested in individual worker rights is the former AFL-CIO Propaganda Minister?

If I had introduced Marilyn Sneiderman after June 2, I would have pointed out how great the California unions did in obtaining a real field mobilization of its members to defeat the vicious Proposition 226 that was intended to silence unions’ political voice.

And just what was so nefarious about Prop. 226 that motivated Comrade Sneiderman to militate against it so vociferously?

Requires all employers and labor organizations to obtain employee’s or member’s permission before withholding wages or using union dues or fees for political contributions. Employee’s or member’s permission is to be obtained annually using a prescribed form. Requires record keeping.

Nope, cannot have the rank-and-file having a voice in how their union dues are spent.  That must be left to inner party members only.  We know what’s best for them.  I am sure the same sentiment is worming its way in to this current Agriprocessor campaign.

So, along these lines, I’m asking myself – is this Rubashkin’s kashrut that G-d intended – “one that oppresses immigrant workers with excessively long hours and low wages?” Or is it a type of Kashrut that respects both workers and the natural environment – that is both socially just and ecologically sound.

I have to say some of the comments were outright amusing – I mean, calling the BBYO participants “revolutionaries”? APRPEH, you have got to be kidding me. And Jacob, I totally disagree with your points, but you might be taken a tad more seriously if you took checked your spelling.

Also, according to the Jerusalem Post, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly (not what I’d call radical organizations) say Jews should consider for themselves whether or not to buy the meat from Rubashkin’s (see http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211434112899&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull) so that is exactly what these BBYO youth are doing!

Also you can check out this blog for more info: http://stoprubashkins.blogspot.com/.

Not only is the slaughter of animals cruel and unnecessary, but the mass production of meat, particularly beef, contributes to the global food crisis as it takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat, far more water to produce meat than plant-based food, and the environmental impact through waste runoff, soil degradation and methane emissions.

BBYO is taking a half-asked approach by simply just changing their meat supplier.

Its ridiculous, after all of these facts have been stated including government fines against the plant, that people are still talking about how “no facts have come out yet”

YOU SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES !!!!!!

To understand the TRUTH, read in depth ALL of the letters in the URL below:

[www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/letters.asp]

To those in support, KUDOS for your comments.

My earlier post got mixed up later in the day among both categories and could be misconstrued.

There is no condemnation, no victimization, no execution happening here!

What is the hold up at Agri? Why will they not provide the documents they promised????

I wonder if they have done this. Or are they just part of this rush to judgment based on unsubstantiated allegations and innuendo. Jewish Law is clear that you cannot judge something until you hear both sides.

Instead of teaching their members to seek truth and hear the whole story they are becoming part of some in the liberal Jewish community that clearly have agenda taht is inimical to Jewish tradition.

Perhaps these events are just to further reinforce news and statements that have already been pounded rather than to seek objectivity, pursue dialogue understand what is and has been done, as well as what is in the process of being done to right wrongs, correct flaws and build faith a stronger foundations.

If that is the case, as suggested in a post above (as this being in response to other organizations’ efforts, comments and the like) than this is merely an exercise in public action for these kids to learn how to gather and yell, and not truly an educational facility that shows children how to pursue justice for those who need it.

The pursuit of justice must be done judiciously as well.  To not seek answers on their own, but to accept what some say alone, is yielding to despotic charms, and not pursuing what they seem to believe is justice.

You are all guilty of lashon hora, not a Jewish value. You have allegations, speculation, and gossip but not facts.  You are a disgrace to Jewish youth worldwide.

You have jumped on a bandwagon for the thrill of the ride not realizing you are being led by a group of pied pipers into a sea of deceit and lies in the name of “justice”.

You have made a mockery of tikkun olam.

To look at the facts – yes, the facts—and allege that they are unjust allegations is simply ludicrous.

The true embarrassment here is the indictment of the BBYO teens. The Torah states: “Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates (Deuteronomy 24:14).  We applaud BBYO for their commitment to social justice and Jewish values.

Asaf Bar-Tura
Director of Teen Programming
JCUA

Iowa Workforce Development (March 20, 2008) “Postville Company Cited for 39 Health & Safety Violations, &182,000 Fine Proposed”. News release.  Retrieved on 2008-06-25.

Pitt. David. “Immigration raid spurs calls for action vs. owners,” Chicago Tribune 02 06 2008. 25 Jun 2008 .

Weiss. Anthony. “Iowa Fines AgriProcessors for Labor Violations,” The Jewish Daily Forward 24 03 2008. 25 Jun 2008 .

BBYO’s decision follows a call from the U.S. Conservative movement which urged the Jewish community to consider not patronizing Agriprocessors (http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/108713.html).  BBYO is not acting unilaterally, as it has joined more than 1,000 community leaders who signed the Uri Tzedek petition at http://uriltzedek.webnode.com/information-on-the-agriprocessor-effort/sign-the-letter-to-agriprocessors/, and was based on the following undeniable facts: 

1) On May 12, 389 illegal workers were arrested, among them 18 juveniles between the ages of 13 and 17 (Detainees moved from NCC grounds, Waterloo, Courier, May 15, 2008).
2) Agriprocessors was cited for 39 health and safety violations in March 2008, including amputations, eye injuries and hearing loss, despite years of public inquiry and concern over worker conditions at the plant (Agriprocessor’s Safety Problems, Des Moines Register, May 14, 2008).

“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” Driven by Rabbi Hillel’s call, BBYO’s teens are using this summer’s programs as an opportunity to explore the complexities of the Agriprocessor issue.

“When news broke of the raid in Postville last month, we were particularly concerned because some of the workers were kids our age,” said Evan Herron, BBYO’s International Teen Co-President.  “Our teen leadership will be exploring issues raised by these events through some of our programs this summer, particularly as they relate to Jewish values and social justice.”

BBYO is an independent organization of B’nai B’rith International.

Is this what we are teaching our children?? The opposite of true justice? I thought justice meant “innocent until proven guilty”?

I don’t care what this Rabbi Allen has to say. He clearly has an agenda. And that is to get an ‘in’ into the Kosher certification business.

This is an injustice to the education of these pure children and an injustice to all Jews.

dovid

YOU SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES !!!!!!

To understand the TRUTH, read in depth ALL of the letters in the URL below:

[http://www.goveg.com/feat/agriprocessors/letters.asp]

As a Jew, I have been ashamed that a kosher meat company is behaving so egregiously and that we can call food “kosher” when it causes pain and injury to so many families. However, I’ve also been proud to see that 1300 Jewish leaders, educators, and kosher consumers have signed a petition calling out Agriprocessors for their abuses. I don’t know anything about the group organizing the petition, but their website is uriltzedek.webnode.com.

Kudos to the youth leaders of BBYO and to its staff for bringing the Jewish community and the workers in Postville one step closer to justice.

BBYO: don’t be fooled by these professional stoogies.
Justice is justice and you are doing the right thing!

In the early sixties leaders of the Jewish community were against student involvement in the struggle for black rights. It wasn’t until large numbers of students and a few brave Rabbis stood up that the Jewish community “leaders” changed course and remembered the Torah.

Fight for what you believe in, fight for tikkun olam.

Jews stood up for justice during the civil rights movement, and now young people are standing against the mistreatment of workers at Agriprocessors!
Its nice to see social justice is still a concern in the Jewish community!!!

As a Jew, I have been ashamed that a kosher meat company is behaving so egregiously and that we can call food “kosher” when it causes pain and injury to so many families.  However, I’ve also been proud to see that 1300 Jewish leaders, educators, and kosher consumers have signed a petition calling out Agriprocessors for their abuses.  I don’t know anything about the group organizing the petition, but their website is uriltzedek.webnode.com.

Kudos to the youth leaders of BBYO and to its staff for bringing the Jewish community and the workers in Postville one step closer to justice.

You guys have missed the mark and you are misleading hundreds of Jewish youth to do the same.

The Jewish value of not condemning and executing someone until the facts come out has also been laid aside.

Your leadership should be ashamed of themselves.

The raid on Agriprocessors has become more of a witch hunt, and even more of a game of broken telephone. This whole debate is lashon hora, because no one has printed bona fide facts, it’s all hearsay.

The blog editor here claims to know the truth, the PR guys claim to know the truth, and the pseudo experts here claim to know the truth.

The truth is that some of what is claimed against the meat processors are true and need to be fixed, while a lot of it is rumor designed to besmirch the movement Chabad and organized orthodox so-called “organizations”.

This fight, and it is a fight, is not one that ought to be fought by a food maker/distributor, but between the rabbis, religions, streams and the consumers to see whether an idea of a hechser tzedek warranted, but more so, is even doable. Where are lines drawn, who makes the rules, is a “little bit” illegal, the same as a little bit pregnant, is immoral, my morals, your morals, Avi Weiss’ or Morris Allan’s, Avi Shafran’s?

Asking for a hechser tzedek is a big deal, because once you declare it and firm it up, can Avi Weiss still eat at the Rivedale Pizza shop if the guy who sweeps or flips the dough is illegal? Can Morris Allan’s synagogue be considered treif because the janitor’s wife is illegal (not saying that any of this is the case)? Can I buy my tzitit at the Judaica store where a Mexican is crushing boxes in the back?

Shmarya says its a 70%/20% in another post here. he says its not about Federally illegal, but more of a moral code. So if shmarya says one guys’s use of illegals is good because he pays them better wages, doe sthat rise to the level of Avi Weiss’ level of Uri LTzedek - which asks for U.S. legal guidelines?

The questions here are not meant to be sarcastic, but will certainly be answered that way. They will get torn apart and mocked, my motives will be too, all in an attempt to deflect the true questions here. Can tzedek work, who will be the enforcers, and is the use of this company as the posterchild for non tzedek - the rumors, gossip and destruction of people’s lives, livelihoods and reputations - contrary to the whole point of tzedek in the first place?

Or, to paraphrase a famous Kohen, “do the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few?” Do we continue to be counter to tzdek, using these people until they are destroyed for the purpose of building a greater call for Tzedek?

Tear away people…

“make their voices heard against the intolerable injustices at Agriprocessors”

This is an embarrassment to Jewish education and youth.

Oh?  What about the Jewish value of not condemning and executing someone before the facts come out?

“on Thursday, June 26, 11:45 am – 1:15 pm, when nearly 100 Jewish teens will gather at Beber Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconson (suburban Milwaukee) to make their voices heard against the intolerable injustices at Agriprocessors.”

What about the **alleged** intolerable injustices?