Report of the Commission of Inquiry

DECEMBER 12, 2006 - In late May 2006, an article in The Forward described alleged unsafe working conditions and worker mistreatment at the nation’s largest koshermeat packing plant, AgriProcessors, Inc., in Postville, Iowa. In response, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly appointed a joint commission of inquiry to determine if the charges were accurate, to learn about working conditions at the plant, and to establish next steps, if needed, to help ensure worker dignity, safety and rights, within the context of Jewish law, values and tradition. The overriding objective was, and continues to be, the desire to ensure the American Jewish community’s access to glatt and non-glatt kosher meat and to enhance the community’s confidence in those products.

Several conversations with AgriProcessors representatives and others in the community preceded the site visit, which took place August 8 – 9, 2006. Commission members making the trip were:

Rabbi Morris Allen, Commission of Inquiry chair (Beth Jacob Congregation, Mendota Heights, MN);
Rabbi Claudio Kaiser-Blueth (Beth Tikvah Congregation, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada);
Richard Lederman (director, Public Policy and Social Action Commission, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism);
Avram Lyon (member, Morristown Jewish Center, Morristown, NJ, and executive director, Jewish Labor Committee); and
Vic Rosenthal (member Temple of Aaron, St. Paul, MN, and executive director, Jewish Community Action).

Don Siegel, an attorney in Boston, serves as pro bono counsel to the committee. Although he did not visit Postville, he participated in several calls during the course of the visit and subsequently.

The commission toured the plant and met with a wide variety of people in both labor and management, including Rabbi Sholom Mordecai Rubashkin, vice president of AgriProcessors, as well as other community leaders.

As a result of the numerous conversations, the commission concludes that there are significant issues of concern at the plant, including issues of health and safety. The commission findings included reports from the Department of Labor whose inspections revealed the following:

Inadequate safety procedures when shutting machines for cleaning;
Inadequate or nonexistent worker safety training;
Lack of safety committee that includes both management and labor, to develop training and monitor procedures;
Concern about unsafe chemical use;
Unclean and unsafe lunchroom conditions; and
Inadequate access to safety equipment and number of operable eyewash stations.

On September 11, Rabbi Allen and Mr. Rosenthal held a number of meetings in Postville, including one with Rabbi Rubashkin and Chaim Abrahams, a member of the AgriProcessors management team. They also met with a former employee, now a businessman in town, and with a religious leader in the community. At the conclusion of the second site visit, Rabbi Allen and Mr. Rosenthal made three interim recommendations to AgriProcessors:

That the plant should invite the Iowa Department of Labor’s Division of Consultation and Education to conduct a thorough review of the entire plant, inspecting for health and safety procedures, staffing, and training and that the plant use this division’s expertise to bring all procedures and staffing into full compliance with the law and industry standards.
That plant management should meet regularly with workers, so that workers can share concerns, the two groups can develop trust, and management can improve conditions. These meetings are to be facilitated by the commission or an experienced labor relations facilitator acceptable to the commission.
That the plant should provide all training, training videos and manuals, employee manuals and documents in intelligible Spanish, and ESL training for all supervisors and line workers.

Rabbi Rubashkin took notes during the meeting and said he would contact the commission after Rosh Hashanah. Indeed, members of the commission, including Rabbi Allen, met with Rabbi Rubashkin and his colleagues in Minneapolis on November 29, 2006, to review the recommendations and to explore ways of moving those recommendations forward. Throughout the three visits, the commission emphasized a commitment to building a trusting relationship with the plant management to solve problems related to worker dignity and safety.

In a letter to Rabbi Allen dated December 1, 2006, Mr. Abrahams noted that “AgriProcessors is retaining a consultant to further review our employee safety and health procedures.” In the letter, Mr. Abrahams also indicates the following steps that the company has taken to address our concerns:

Retained a consultant to review the health and safety procedures in the plant;
Hired a new safety manager and part-time human resources person who are both bilingual in Spanish and English;
Revising documentation in Spanish to improve understanding by the workers;
onstructing a new conference room designed for employee line meetings and ongoing employee training;
Working with consultants who specialize in working on relationships and communication with employees.

While the commission is heartened by the December 1 letter, it does not yet meet our goals.

In the course of considering conditions at the AgriProcessors plant, the commission determined that it was important to visit other kosher meat packing plants to gain a more balanced understanding of the issue of working conditions at these facilities.

On Wednesday, October 18, 2006, commission members Richard Lederman and Avram Lyon visited the Empire Kosher Poultry Plant in Mifflintown, PA. They were joined by Rabbi Eliseo Rozenwasser of Har Zion Temple in Narberth, PA, representing the Rabbinical Assembly.

Once again, the commission met with owners and managers of the company, including CEO Greg Rosenbaum, workers and other community leaders. The first meeting was held jointly with labor and management together and included representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1776, which represents workers at the unionized plant.

The commission learned that a safety committee consisting of management and workers from different areas of the plant meets monthly. The company also uses an outside consultant to assist with OSHA compliance. Workers receive 16 days of orientation, which includes job training, general safety and food safety training, and mentoring with a veteran employee. All training and training materials are available in Spanish. Overall, the commission found working conditions, safety conditions and general worker welfare and community relations not to be issues of concern at the Empire plant.

The commission intends to continue working with these and other kosher food manufacturers to ensure adherence to Jewish values in the production of kosher food and will be conducting other site visits.

The commission has received a mandate from the executive committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and from the board of directors of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism to develop a proposal to establish what is currently being referred to as a “tsedek hekhsher,” a certification that the manufacturer has met a set of standards that determine the social responsibility of kosher food producers, particularly in the area of worker rights.