Labor secretary questioned about Postville raid
By JANE NORMAN • REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU • May 27, 2008


Washington, D.C. — Leaders of a congressional committee are pressing the U.S. Department of Labor for answers on whether an ongoing investigation of child labor and wage violations at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Ia., will be compromised by a May 12 immigration raid there.

Democratic leaders of the House Education and Labor Committee have written to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. They're also asking for more information on the complaints that prompted the Agriprocessors investigation, and whether federal labor officials had any involvement with the raid. The raid was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.


The letter was sent May 16 and signed by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, chairwoman of a subcommittee on workforce protection, and Rep. George Miller, chairman of the full committee. Both are California Democrats.

Woolsey presided over a hearing May 20 on the impact on children and families of a string of recent worksite raids. ICE was the only federal agency represented at the hearing. The head of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy organization, raised similar questions at the hearing about a compromised labor investigation.

Mark Lauritsen, international vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, also has written Chao, saying that his “worst fears are being realizedâ€