WHAT HEELS: What’s The Matter With IA?
As if the Postville, IA, Agriprocessors case (second item) – with allegations of rampant immigration fraud, wage and hour violations, workplace safety violations, underage workers, sexual harassment, and even an on-site meth lab – isn’t shocking enough, now comes word of egregious human rights violations at another meat processing plant, this one in Atalissa, a town of about 300 people about 20 miles east of Iowa City, reports The Associated Press:
State officials say 21 mentally disabled men lived for 20 years or more in an old building with boarded-up windows and nothing but space heaters for heat. It wasn't some neglectful group home - it was the bunkhouse for Henry's Turkey Service. …
Henry's Turkey Service apparently acted as the men's employer, landlord and caregiver. …
The house was closed Saturday night. Gessow said all 21 of the men have been placed under a protective status and in temporary housing.
Most of the men removed from the bunkhouse were in their 50s and 60s, officials said. The issue is complicated because the men are all dependent adults. Many have families, but those families must take legal action to become guardians of dependent adults, Gessow said.
Just as officials in Postville turned a blind eye to the goings-on at Agriprocessors – and even decried the government immigration raid that turned up all the other workplace violations – IA Gov. Chet Culver (D) says there are indications that local officials were aware of the situation these men were in.
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