Kosher Meat Boycott

Thanks to the terrific group, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) for alerting me to the kosher meat boycott currently roiling parts of the Jewish community coast to coast. It turns out that AgriProcessors, the country's largest kosher slaughterhouse, seems to be guilty of some ugly union busting and targeting of immigrants that has outraged at least a portion of the Orthodox community.

The allegations against the company -- which produces sixty percent of the beef and forty percent of the chicken provided to the kosher marketplace -- include a pattern of knowingly exploiting undocumented workers with sub-standard pay and severe workplace mistreatment; violation of child labor laws by putting children as young as 13 to work and reports of floor supervisors physically, verbally and sexually abusing workers.

AgriProcessors has been cited multiple times by federal and state regulators for food-safety, environmental, labor and animal-cruelty violations. The company was also the site of a recent immigration raid as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials closed the plant and arrested 389 workers for immigration violations. Far from properly punishing any criminals, the action was, in fact, "A Raid on Fairness," as the Boston Globe called it in a strong editorial on May 24.

If the government wants to send a message, it ought to pay more attention to prosecuting abusive employers who hire undocumented immigrants and mistreat them by withholding pay or doling out verbal and physical abuse. So far, no officials at AgriProcessors have been charged.

A federal informant who worked at AgriProcessors told officials about workers who appeared to be undocumented having trouble getting paid. In one case, a supervisor put duct tape over a worker's eyes and hit him with a meat hook, without, the warrant says, causing serious harm.

The violations were first reported by a Jewish newspaper, the Forward, prompting Jewish advocacy groups to note that Jewish law protects workers and forbids inflicting unnecessary pain on animals.

Picking up on that theme, Uri l'tzedek, a group established to serve and inspire the American Orthodox Jewish community towards enacting social justice, is asking the estimated one million Americans who observe kosher restrictions to consider whether a company can meet religious standards if it violates ethical ones.

Uri l'tzedek's conclusion is clear by its petition drive calling on Agriprocessors to pay its workers the minimum wage of the land, to recommit to abide by all federal, state and local laws including those pertaining worker safety, sexual harassment, physical abuse, and the rights of your employees to collective bargaining and to treat its workers according to the standards that Torah and halakha places on protecting workers--standards which include the spirit of lifnim meshurat hadin, going well beyond the bare minimum requirements of the law.

And for those history buffs among you, Kosher meat boycotts have a storied tradition. The first recorded kosher meat boycott in the US took place 1902 and was an early demonstration of the rising political consciousness of Jewish women in New York City's ghettos. Most of the boycotters were not yet American citizens, but they had lived in America long enough to observe the organizing strategies of the nascent labor and women's suffrage movements. The example set by the kosher meat boycotters was later emulated in Jewish neighborhood rent strikers in 1904 and 1907-08, and in food boycotts in 1907, 1912 and 1917. Many of the daughters of the kosher meat boycotters of 1902, especially those in the garment trades, would become the backbone of New York's labor movement.

I'm not under the impression that this blog is especially well-read in the Orthodox community but I think the AgriProcessor boycott is an important cause to highlight. Even beyond the legitimate and worthy goals of the campaign this movement shows the social justice side of the Jewish tradition that is too often drowned out by the rasher and more self-interested stereotypes.

Comments (54)

1. Peter, I couldn't agree more but don't expect any of the presidential candidates to bring this one to light. ?Rest assured, the Jewish lobby will do their utmost to keep this quiet, they control big media.

   Posted by ACook at 06/02/2008 @ 12:49pm

2. The first recorded kosher meat boycott in the US took place 1902 and was an early demonstration of the rising political consciousness of Jewish women in New York City's ghettos. MOST OF THE BOYCOTTERS WERE NOT YET AMERICAN CITIZENS, but they had lived in America long enough to observe the organizing strategies of the nascent labor and women's suffrage movements.

   just a reminder for the send them mexicans home crowd.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 06/02/2008 @ 1:01pm

3. I agree with ACook. This, purposely, has not seen the light of day. I haven't head it on the local or national newscasts. It's a shame though. I see every culture has its share of sellouts.

   Posted by k330k at 06/02/2008 @ 1:02pm

4. Well, as always, PETER, good luck....

   and as always, you'll probably need it!

   Posted by Mask at 06/02/2008 @ 1:23pm

5. well,

   we don't see it

   because the

   ENTIRE

   meat industry in the u.s.

   uses

   illegal aliens.

   <i>bob evans,

   down on the farm....</i>

   Posted by frosty zoom at 06/02/2008 @ 1:24pm

6. hey!

   illegal aliens

   wash

   the

   dishes

   at

   BOB EVANS,

   too.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 06/02/2008 @ 1:25pm

7. Posted by k330k

   Oh please. doesn't that warm your jew hating hearts.

   jews make up 2% of the US population, but they run EVERYTHING. especially the press. Murdoch must be a secret jew. GE must be all jews.Disney too. everyone on the Nation is a jew. and I'm a jew too.

   hey, if Kennedy can say" ich bin ein Berliner", which incidentally means I am a pancake.

   Posted by emile duBois at 06/02/2008 @ 1:52pm

8. a history buff is a historian who works out at the gym a lot.

   Posted by emile duBois at 06/02/2008 @ 1:54pm

9. Off topic:

   chimpCo goes into the cable installation business

   http://photobucket.com/video/Cable%20Installation%20Disaster/pbhomepage/ video1/cabledisaster.flv?ref=homepagequadv1

   Posted by crabwalk at 06/02/2008 @ 2:41pm

10. hey, if Kennedy can say" ich bin ein Berliner", which incidentally means I am a pancake.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/2/2008

    There are two things wrong in this sentence. For one the common myth is that it means I am a DONUT. But in actuality it is grammatically correct the way he said it. It does NOT mean he is a donut.

    "Oh please. doesn't that warm your jew hating hearts.

    jews make up 2% of the US population, but they run EVERYTHING. especially the press. Murdoch must be a secret jew. GE must be all jews.Disney too. everyone on the Nation is a jew. and I'm a jew too."

    I don't know how anything in his statement is jew hating as you allege but whatever. If you ever work in the media you will find that a lot of companies, I don't know if it's most, are in fact headed by jews. I always thought it was just a bad joke but once I started working in the media I noticed that there are A LOT of people in head positions with Jewish last names. Just IMDB some studios or movies. You will see a lot of producer and such that are Jewish. Doesn't mean they control the media but for some weird reason it seems to be an industry that has a heavy Jewish population.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 06/02/2008 @ 3:09pm

11. FYI, the AgriProcessor brands to boycott include: Rubashkin, Aaron's Best, Supreme and Habor (all Kosher) and Iowa Best Beef (non-Kosher). Uri l'tzedek seems to be concentrating on their petition rather than the boycott itself.

    Posted by cka2nd at 06/02/2008 @ 3:37pm

12. Lots of folks who aren't Jewish eat kosher meat simply because by kashrut the meat is cleaner and safer. So this could have bigger implications. I had seen a tangental article about this regarding the impact of illegals working at a kosher meat plant in Iowa, so it's not a huge surprise to me. But yeah, beyond Peter making noise this won't get much attention. Oh and Peter thank you for making noise!

    Posted by yutsano at 06/02/2008 @ 3:38pm

13. Bad ethics is not kosher. Ask any rabbi.

    Posted by mikecope at 06/02/2008 @ 3:47pm

14. There are two things wrong in this sentence. For one the common myth is that it means I am a DONUT. But in actuality it is grammatically correct the way he said it. It does NOT mean he is a donut.

    you're correcting MY German? don't make me laugh. the correct grammar would be "ich bin Berliner"

    a donut is known as a "Berliner Pfankuchen"

    hence "ich bin EIN Berliner" leads to the admittedly weak joke.

    it is true that jews pretty much invented the movies. that they control the media and newspapers is a myth.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/02/2008 @ 4:18pm

15. Yeah, I haven't studied German for quite some time and I knew you were right Emile. But hey they give Kennedy credit for trying.

    Posted by yutsano at 06/02/2008 @ 4:22pm

16. Yeah, the Jews ran Germany, too, but allowed themselves to be slaughtered so they could take over Israel and the U.S. Clever fellows.

    Posted by mrpoizun at 06/02/2008 @ 4:26pm

17. the jews have been in the unenviable position of being accused of being the greedy capitalists, who own and run everything, as well as the communist revolutionaries who want to tear everything down.

    anyone who knows jews well would laugh at the thought of a worldwide jewish conspiracy. put two jews in a room together and you get three diametrically opposed opinions, as the joke goes.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/02/2008 @ 4:33pm

18. No Hitler killed them to herd the wayward children into Palestine remember?

    Posted by yutsano at 06/02/2008 @ 4:33pm

19. Posted by yutsano

    yes, that was a great speech. and he was trying.

    on the other hand, if he had ordered tanks to knock down the Berlin wall as it was being built, he would have called their bluff. that was what many Germans at that time expected.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/02/2008 @ 4:39pm

20. Posted by yutsano at 06/2/2008

    JOHANNESROLF (aka EMILE) is a Germanophile. He's like Chekov on ST, who thought everything was invented in Russia...or the dad in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" who thought "every word has root in Greek"!

    heheh

    Posted by Mask at 06/02/2008 @ 4:48pm

21. Go after the management, shareholders and board. This happens because there are no consequences.

    ----

    If, as is postulated by a posterior, the Jews run The Media, surely we will see this hit the headlines. But, much like the lead up to war, we will likely see the myths of librool Jewish media slain by the knight of reality.

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/02/2008 @ 7:19pm

22. ACook - Jewish lobby will do their utmost to keep this quiet, they control big media

    Sure they do. For ex., ultra liberal media Jewish tycoon Rupert Murdoch...stein

    Limbaugh's John Clear Channel owned by Romney...berg/Bain in partnership with Carlyle/Bush...baum

    Here's a small (2 billion) example of the partnership:

    Bain Capital Partners, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners Agree to Acquire Dunkin' Brands, Inc. from Pernod Ricard S.A. for $2.425 Billion

    source? http://www.carlyle.com

    Posted by winyahn at 06/02/2008 @ 7:49pm

23. Wheres Rese when you need him...

    There's "ich bin Berliner" code and the Bain / Carlyle acquisition of Dunkin' Donuts!

    Posted by winyahn at 06/02/2008 @ 7:58pm

24. Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

    ezekiel 4:9

    god can cook.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/03/2008 @ 01:40am

25. Meat packing jobs must be tough. My wife & I have goats & the birth of kids every spring presents a dilemma. The females start producing milk again (a break for winter) after giving birth. At least half of the kids are male. Some people eat them. We don't. My wife says, "Too many mouths to feed". I lobby for pack goat training & ultimate sale to outdoors people who want to carry gear on hikes. If not, they go to auction. We'll see this year. The people who turn the wheels in these meat packing plants deserve everything they can get. It can't be easy.

    Posted by Sorelish at 06/03/2008 @ 02:08am

26. god can cook.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/3/2008

    She whipped up a whole world in 7 days. She left it's inhabitants half baked, though.

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/03/2008 @ 07:07am

27. .All this about illegal immigrants?......... . ..Courts and laywers want to to use rights that aren't rightfully their............ ..The immigration status is the first thing to straighten out -<>- until that is straightened out they should not be afforded any rights beyond that, being subject to deportation -immediately............. ..IT IS ABSURD. The politically correctness that the courts try to portray.......... . ..A baby learns to walk one step at a time, before he/she learns to run. The courts will have the immigrants suing before they even cross the border illegally - "for discrimination"

    Posted by bbednarz at 06/03/2008 @ 07:09am

28. Posted by bbednarz at 06/3/2008

    where does it say in the constitution that the Bill of rights only applies to citizens?

    you're just a "know nothing" and a misanthrope.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/03/2008 @ 08:51am

29. Posted by bbednarz at 06/3/2008

    Have you eaten lately? Or perhaps you're one of the hunters & gatherers? ...who cash checks for a living.

    Posted by Sorelish at 06/03/2008 @ 08:52am

30. It can't be easy.

    Posted by Sorelish

    no, it can't:

    One problem with published injury reports is that they don't include night-shift workers who perform the most dangerous jobs in the industry, using caustic chemicals and high-powered hoses to remove blood, bone and gristle from moving machinery parts. Their injuries are counted with those of hotel room cleaners and building janitors.

    ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    When workers seek to organize to protect themselves, meatpacking companies use tactics of fear, intimidation and interference to block union organizing efforts. For example, Smithfield Foods fired union supporters and threatened to close its massive hog slaughtering plant in Tar Heel, N.C., when workers there tried to form a union. Company police have targeted union supporters for harassment, arrests and beatings. Some of these violations of workers' organizing rights go back eight years, but National Labor Relations Board remedies have not been enforced.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR200508 0201936.html

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/03/2008 @ 09:31am

31. goats are cool.

    those eyes.......

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/03/2008 @ 09:42am

32. those eyes.......

    Posted by frosty zoom

    no, no, it's "These Eyes"

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/03/2008 @ 09:46am

33. Posted by frosty zoom at 06/3/2008

    No animal kid is as precocious. Playing king of the mountain at 2 days old. Showing off constantly. Horny little devils though.

    Posted by Sorelish at 06/03/2008 @ 09:57am

34. OMG!

    i'm a goat!

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/03/2008 @ 10:05am

35. "Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side."

    Yiddish Proverb quotes

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/03/2008 @ 10:08am

36. how should I approach you, Frosty?

    With a foamy glass of

    http://hornygoatbeer.com/ ?

    "Horny Goat loves big cans"

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/03/2008 @ 11:21am

37. On topic, sort of.

    He'Brew, The Chosen Beer

    http://tinyurl.com/3j8dfa

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/03/2008 @ 11:25am

38. Can I approach chimpy McFlightsuit from above? Is that a "side"?

    "George! I want you to build an Ark."

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/03/2008 @ 11:27am

39. after having posted, i realized i had left myself semi-approachable.

    i sure hope that dubious fellow don't come back.

    better go sharpen those horns.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 06/03/2008 @ 12:32pm

40. Does anybody else see the irony of an Exodus from Egypt only to use immigrant/child labor and to engage in labor abuses?

    Maybe the meat packers need their very own Moses, wandering for 40 days and nights in Jersey.

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/03/2008 @ 12:54pm

41. Posted by crabwalk

    one of your worst.

    incidentally, the Hebrew's captivity narrative does not appear in any Egyptian chronicles. it may be a myth.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/03/2008 @ 1:28pm

42. Posted by crabwalk at 06/3/2008

    Does Ralph Nader approve your message? Massage?

    Posted by Sorelish at 06/03/2008 @ 1:47pm

43. Posted by frosty zoom at 06/3/2008 after having posted,

    'toopid. 'toopid peepo

    Posted by Sorelish at 06/03/2008 @ 2:28pm

44. Posted by crabwalk

    one of your worst.

    incidentally, the Hebrew's captivity narrative does not appear in any Egyptian chronicles. it may be a myth.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/3/2008

    which one? the wandering in Jersey?

    Sorry, I shoot for an average above .300.

    But, I don find it "interesting" that jewish business owners would exploit the working class after the "history" they teach me at Passover.

    "Why do we eat reclined on this night and not other nights?"

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/03/2008 @ 3:55pm

45. Does Ralph Nader approve your message? Massage?

    Posted by Sorelish at 06/3/2008

    I don't think Ralph approves of a lot of things I do.

    And now a short massage from the Swedish Prime Minister....

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/03/2008 @ 3:57pm

46. What do you mean "immigrants". These individuals are not and never have been anything but criminals, never "immigrants", but Illegal Aliens.

    Posted by tucanofulano at 06/03/2008 @ 10:15pm

47. So each and everyone of them is an "individual"?

    Individuals "endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"?

    Posted by winyahn at 06/04/2008 @ 01:07am

48. What do you mean "immigrants". These individuals are not and never have been anything but criminals, never "immigrants", but Illegal Aliens.

    Posted by tucanofulano at 06/3/2008 |

    1: they are people. People looking for a better life. People that are making , possibly, your food.

    2: not all of the workers are immigrants, legal or illegal.

    3: The company management are criminals too.

    Posted by crabwalk at 06/04/2008 @ 07:11am

49. What do you mean "immigrants". These individuals are not and never have been anything but criminals, never "immigrants", but Illegal Aliens.

    Posted by tucanofulano

    your hatred of people just drips off the page. whattacreep.

    Posted by emile duBois at 06/04/2008 @ 08:30am

50. THIS JUST IN: Thousands of Tucanofulanos sneak across sovereign USA border, steal patriotic Americans jobs, trample on our freedom!!

    Posted by winyahn at 06/04/2008 @ 11:04pm

51. Great article! I support the boycott! also please see new video in support of the boycott at

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpj-95Tvzp0&feature=PlayList&p=E83B9EAEAD 57B64A&index=9

    "Shavuot" Z'man Matan Toratenu Catherine

    Posted by Manna at 06/05/2008 @ 2:35pm

52. Sorry that may not work please see this video "Shavuot" Z'man Matan Toratenu

    Posted by Manna at 06/05/2008 @ 2:38pm

53. THis is the link to watch full video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpj-95Tvzp0 thank you!

    Posted by Manna at 06/05/2008 @ 2:43pm

54. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpj-95Tvzp0

    Posted by Manna at 06/05/2008 @ 2:44pm