New CEO of raided meatpacker says change is coming

By Henry C. Jackson
ASSOCIATED PRESS

5:03 p.m. September 18, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa – The new chief executive officer of Agriprocessors, the kosher meatpacker targeted in an immigration raid and accused of child-labor violations, said Thursday that his company will make fundamental changes.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press hours after his hiring was announced, Bernard Feldman said his appointment will quickly lead to changes, especially in the company's personnel department and its ability to recruit skilled workers at its plant in Postville, Iowa.

Feldman also said the company will consider cooperating with efforts to unionize the plant, a move that would be a radical shift for a company that has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court to fight union representation at its distribution facility in Brooklyn.

“I am independent and I have absolute control in decision-making,â€