Kosher Meatpacker Struggles After Immigration Raid

(08-17) 11:13 PDT Postville, Iowa (AP) --

Three months after the nation's largest immigration raid, chickens and beef carcasses are again moving down the line at Agriprocessors' sprawling kosher meatpacking plant, but managers acknowledge that business still isn't back to normal.

The biggest problem is hiring people to replace the 389 workers arrested by immigration agents, managers told The Associated Press. More than 1,000 people worked at the plant before the May 12 raid.

And then there's the possibility that the state attorney general could file charges against the company following an Iowa Labor Commission investigation that alleged 57 cases of child labor law violations.

"Sure, it is challenging," said Chaim Abrahams, a manager at Agriprocessors. "Running a plant day to day no matter what is challenging. But we are ambitious and determined to restore it.

"And we're doing it with a smile."

That optimism isn't shared by some in this isolated community of 2,200 people in northeast Iowa. Many blame Agriprocessors for the tumult surrounding the raid, which pushed people out of jobs and homes, and in some cases separated children from parents.

Some residents said they're aghast at stories they've heard about conditions inside the plant, the town's biggest employer, where workers have complained of physical abuse by managers, wage violations and the hiring of underage employees.

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AP: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/17/national/a110356D47.DTL