agriprocessors

Petition on the treatment of workers at Agriprocessors

by: Arieh Lebowitz

Mon Jun 30, 2008 at 22:01:15 PM EDT

Dear friends:
 
We are writing to ask your help, and for your name on the petition online here.
 
Many of us have been aware of the shameful situation confronting workers for a number of years at the Agriprocessors Inc. meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa - the largest kosher meat processing plant in North America.  A number of significant articles and editorials in the Jewish media and general press have brought this matter to the community at large.  After the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on the plant, many of the company's longstanding labor violations have received public exposure.
 
Please see the petition here.  We feel strongly that we have to take a stand on this. We hope you will sign it.  You are invited to join us in calling for the management of Agriprocessors to "live up to their responsibilities of corporate citizenship, to end its campaign of worker abuse, and resp ect the rights of its employees, including their legal right to union representation."
 
You can sign this petition online, by going here:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/JLC_Agri_Petition/
 
Many of the families of those detained in the ICE raid are in great need.  Contributions of non-perishable food, personal care items - and donations via checks to the Postville Food Pantry -- can be sent to:
 
POSTVILLE FOOD PANTRY    
c/o Pastor Steve Brackett, Treasurer
St. Paul Lutheran Church
116 East Military Road
Postville, IA 52162
 
{The food pantry's phone number is 563-864-7643}
 
We want to hear from you - please send us your comments and suggestions.  If at all possible, sign our petition { http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/JLC_Agri_Petition/ }; send in support to the Postville Food Pantry; and share this message with others.
 
Sincerely,
 
Rosalind A. Spigel, MSOD
Acting Director
Jewish Labor Committee
25 East 21st Street
New York, NY  10010
 
NOTE:  You can email me at JLCexec@aol.com  
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Teens Take Lead on Agriprocessors

by: Mik Moore

Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 18:27:39 PM EDT

BBYO, the youth movement, has come out in support of the workers at Agriprocessors kosher meat processing plant. Building on the work of

Rabbi Morris Allen, Uri L'Tzedek, Jewish Community Action, and others, BBYO put out this release:

Camp Food is No Joking Matter
BBYO Teens Demand Agriprocessor-Free Camp Programs

As a result of the allegations of intolerable injustices at Agriprocessors, the largest producer of kosher meat and poultry in the U.S., BBYO takes major stand by asking its various camp partners to avoid serving Agriprocessor products, to which they comply.

Nine hundred teens participating in BBYO’s summer leadership experiences at Perlman Camp, PA; Beber Camp, WI; and American Hebrew Academy, CA, over the course of this summer, will eat meals free of Agriprocessor products, showing a unified commitment to social justice and Jewish values.

Teens make concerted effort to expand summer program curricula to address the Agriprocessor issue from variety of angles, including the ritual and ethical implications of kashrut, worker’s rights, immigration reform and Jewish values.

The first program will take place 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. Confirmed speakers include Rabbi Morris Allen, a Minneapolis-based leader of the Heksher Tzedek campaign for kosher foods to be produced ethically, who has been to Postville multiple times and will share first-hand accounts from factory workers. Lauren Shenfeld, BBYO’s International Teen Co-President, will also address the group, to raise awareness among her peers and encourage action when teens return home to their local communities.

“If anyone is going to make their opinion on this problem matter to the Jewish community and communities at large, and ultimately stand up against an issue in which human rights and Jewish values are demeaned, it’s BBYO teens.” – Lauren Shenfeld, BBYO International Teen Co-President. ...


I loved my youth movement growing up, but unfortunately we never took the lead on an issue like this. Yasher Koach BBYO!

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