Thread: Postville meatpacking plant seeks staff 8,000 miles away

Postville meatpacking plant seeks staff 8,000 miles away
By TONY LEYS • tleys@dmreg.com • August 20, 2008

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Pacific islanders who live nearly 8,000 miles away from Iowa are preparing to become the next wave of immigrants seeking jobs at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville.

A job recruiter in the tiny nation of Palau said hundreds of his countrymen want to fly to Iowa to work at the embattled plant.


The recruiter, Webster Franz, said most of the applicants are fishermen or subsistence farmers who are eager to make the $10 per hour being offered by Agriprocessors. "We have hard workers. I'm sure they won't be disappointed," Franz said, referring to plant managers.

The plant is still trying to recover from a May immigration raid, in which federal agents arrested nearly 400 workers, most of whom were illegal immigrants from Guatemala or Mexico.

Palau and neighboring island nations could offer legal replacements for such workers because their citizens don't need to be permanent residents, or "green card holders," to work indefinitely in the United States. The countries used to be United Nations territories that were overseen by the United States, and they signed "Compacts of Free Association" with the American government after they became independent in the 1980s and 1990s.

A consultant for Agriprocessors said the company has not asked anyone to recruit in foreign countries. He said independent recruiting companies are free to bring people to Postville to apply at the plant. "But we don't guarantee anybody that they're going to get a job," said the consultant, Menachem Lubinsky.

Lubinsky said such a recruiter could be eligible to collect a fee if it found workers who wound up being hired by Agriprocessors. But he questioned details of the recruiter's announcement about the jobs. "There are so many 'ifs' here, it's incredible: If they possess the skills, if they wish to apply, if they will be accepted by the plant," he said.

Lubinsky noted that at times, people from different ethnic groups have moved to Postville seeking jobs at the plant. Lately, the most visible group has been made up of refugees from the African nation of Somalia.

Lubinsky said Jacobson Cos. of Des Moines is the only recruiting company with a contract to provide workers for Agriprocessors. He said he does not think Jacobson has been recruiting outside the United States. A Jacobson executive declined to comment.

Shmarya Rosenberg, an Agriprocessors critic, was skeptical of the company's claim that it is not recruiting in other countries. "Where else are they going to find people?" he said. "Who else is going to want to move to Postville to make $10 an hour?"

Rosenberg, a Minnesota resident who identifies himself as a former friend of the family that owns Agriprocessors, runs a Web site called FailedMessiah.com, which often carries critical stories about the plant. Last week, he posted a newspaper story from Palau about efforts to recruit workers there.

Franz, the recruiter in Palau, said that his business partner had been in contact with someone connected with Agriprocessors, but that he was unsure who that person was.

He said he was aware of controversy surrounding the plant and the immigration raid there. "I've heard about it, but there's always another side of the coin," he said, adding that he wants to fly to Iowa with the people he recruits, so he can check out the situation.

Franz said that plane tickets would cost up to $1,900, and that he hopes Agriprocessors would help pay for them. He said he hopes to settle such details within a few weeks, then bring up to 60 Palauan workers to Postville.

Bernice Ngirkelau, an executive assistant with Palau's Division of Labor, said her agency has been helping workers fill out paperwork for the possible Agriprocessors jobs. She said word of the jobs was greeted with enthusiasm. "There's a lot of people who are interested in off-island opportunities," she said.

A union that has tried to organize Agriprocessors workers sent a letter to Ngirkelau's agency, pointing out news reports about problems at the plant. The letter from the United Food and Commercial Workers noted "shocking allegations" about use of child labor and about sexual harassment and physical abuse of workers. "We urge you to reconsider referring workers to a potentially dangerous workplace until the allegations surrounding Agriprocessors are resolved," the letter says.

Franz's wife, Imelda Nakamura, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday that the recruiting firm had seen the union's letter and was concerned. She said that the firm still plans to move ahead with its plan, but that if the Postville jobs prove unsatisfactory, the Palauan workers could look for positions elsewhere in the United States.

"Unlike other alien workers, undocumented and illegal, Palauan workers are eligible to live and work in the United States," she wrote. "Hence, if they are not being compensated or have unsafe working conditions, they have the freedom to leave that employment and move elsewhere, to avoid enslavement."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... /808200366

This company is just bound and determined to not hire Americans. Now we import Palauans who can come here under the guise of employment and then dissipiate throughout the country, collecting social benefits as they go.

Unlike other alien workers, undocumented and illegal, Palauan workers are eligible to live and work in the United States," she wrote. "Hence, if they are not being compensated or have unsafe working conditions, they have the freedom to leave that employment and move elsewhere, to avoid enslavement."


Sure they can just walk home

Originally Posted by FedUpinFarmersBranch

A job recruiter in the tiny nation of Palau said hundreds of his countrymen want to fly to Iowa to work at the embattled plant.

The recruiter, Webster Franz, said most of the applicants are fishermen or subsistence farmers who are eager to make the $10 per hour being offered by Agriprocessors.

I know some Pacific Islanders who don't like the US high stress mechanized consumption oriented lifestyle, they were happier living on the beach catching and growing their food. I bet a lot of these people will not stay here long.

So import more laborers.

Does anyone remember the 100 laborers they brought in to this country to work for a company in Georgia just months ago. They all came up missing one day along with the furniture from the apartments. Wasn't even their furniture.

The company said"no problem ,maybe they are out sight seeing around the country".

Does anyone recall what happened and has anyone ever heard more of that story? Or if they ever found those people? Been checking the web and I could not find it.

Just what we need is more people coming into the country with NO REGARD TO LAWS. where is the SECURITY? Can anyone say 9/11?

Good grief where does it end?

Pacific Islanders to work in Iowa, US


An Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Iowa, United States, will be looking to the Pacific Islands to resource workers, reports the Des Moines Register.

Palau, one of the world’s youngest and smallest nations, has told the Postville plant that it has hundreds of citizens willing to relocate to Iowa to work in the factory.

The Palau recruiter, Webster Franz, has said most of the workers are fisherman or farmers but are looking for overseas work to earn more money.

As Palau is a nation, along with other Pacific nations, that used to be under the United States’ jurisdiction, nationals from the island are allowed to work indefinitely in the United States without needing an American work visa.

According to the Des Moines Register, the plant was raided in May after a tip-off that illegal immigrants were working there. 400 illegal immigrants were found to be working at the plant and the business is still trying to recover.

"Unlike other alien workers, undocumented and illegal, Palauan workers are eligible to live and work in the United States. Hence, if they are not being compensated or have unsafe working conditions, they have the freedom to leave that employment and move elsewhere, to avoid enslavement," Franz’s wife, Imelda Nakamura told the news provider.

The recruiter is currently holding discussions with the plant to secure migration support for 60 Palauans to move to Iowa, including paying for the plane tickets.


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