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I like a frankfurter with lots of mustard and even more sauerkraut than the average guy. I also want my frank to be produced at the highest standard of kashrus and by a company whose CEO and upper management pay their taxes on time, do not take frivolous deductions, are extra nice to their wives and kids, and help elderly men and women cross busy streets. Now that’s what I call a really kosher frank.
And come to think of it, I think I might feel the same way about bagels, challahs, and—who knows—maybe all the grocery items that are consumed in my household. Let me put it to you this way: do you want to buy pizza from someone who inches their way into an intersection when the light is red and then takes off before the light really turns green? Chances are this same person may not visit their elderly mother on a regular basis and may not even return library books on time—or perhaps may not return them at all.
After observing, reading, and listening to firsthand accounts of what is going on at the meat and poultry production plant of Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, and then reading some of the reports in the Jewish print media about conditions at Alle Meats in Brooklyn, I’ve been trying to reassess my feelings about the chickens in my freezer, amongst other things.
What served as the catalyst for this particular thought process is the organization now known as Hekhsher Tzedek. The idea behind the founding of the organization—or call it a movement—may be a good one, but its motivation seems to be driven by an ulterior agenda focused upon glatt kosher food producers, in this case Agri and Alle. The idea of Hekhsher Tzedek—that the environment in which kosher food is manufactured or produced should also be on as high a level as the product itself—seems rather utopian, and at best difficult to implement.
Certainly all businesses and yes, especially kosher businesses, should conduct themselves along high standards within the parameters of the law and halachah. Of course employers should treat employees with maximum dignity and courtesy. The end result of this kind of workplace is most likely greater worker productivity and efficiency. In fact, the video that the Five Towns Jewish Times took on our tour of the Agriprocessors plant at the end of July recorded the comments of randomly selected workers who expressed satisfaction with their work and pay. None of these interviews were set up or prepared in advance, and none of the comments were rehearsed, as some would like you to believe.
That doesn’t mean that in a company that employs more than 800 people there are none who are dissatisfied with the type of work they do and are equally unhappy with their level of pay. Why should that group’s comments be heard under an umbrella of greater credibility then those who like their jobs, their working conditions, and the pay level, along with a chance to advance?
Now the Iowa Attorney General’s office is accusing Agriprocessors of thousands of violations of labor laws, mostly involving employment of underage workers and exposing those workers and others in their employ to unsafe working conditions.
To further exacerbate the situation for Agri, the Orthodox Union (OU) has issued a statement indicating that it will withdraw the kashrus certification from the company unless there is a comprehensive management shakeup within the next two weeks. Asked by a reporter why the supervision was not being withdrawn immediately, Rabbi Menachem Genack, kashrus administrator of the OU, said that it was close to yom tov and that the violations committed by Agri were not violations of kashrus law.
In fact, the additional rabbinical supervision carried by Agri from Rabbi Meir Weissmandl will, according to the rabbi, stay on the products produced in the Postville plant. Rabbi Weissmandl explained that his job is strictly kosher supervision. As long as the strict guidelines of kosher shechitah are followed in this plant, his hechsher will stay on, he said.
The concept that those who supply kosher certification should get involved in other aspects of the business is always fraught with a variety of potential complexities. Amongst the question being asked is, if the OU—or any certifier of any product in any plant—is present on a constant basis and if their role is one that transcends the kashrus of the products, then why didn’t the certifying agency point out that there were employee abuses taking place, most likely directly under their noses? If the response is that it’s not their job, then perhaps that should remain the policy through this crisis at Agriprocessors.
Further, if kashrus-certifying organizations are going to get involved in this end of the business, then what about all the companies and products that are being supervised in South America and the Far East, where people are working in gruesome conditions, earning as little as $1 per week for 70 or 80 hours of work? Obviously factories and plants in those countries are not subject to U.S. law, but from the perspective of what is right and moral, can those policies be reconciled with the current approach to Agriprocessors and its present labor troubles?
And then there is the additional point that, to date, all these charges are allegations, to which it appears there is some substance to but that still by law need to be heard, defended, and appropriately adjudicated. So far all the charges brought against Agri’s ownership and management are misdemeanors punishable by relatively small fines. Certainly the company has the ability to place new management at the helm and go about the business of producing meat and poultry at the highest levels of kashrus.
I don’t believe that there is anything Agri can do that will ameliorate the approach of the Hekhsher Tzedek people, PETA, or the local meatpackers union in Iowa.
As for PETA and their ethics, they are currently running the videotape taken by the 5TJT at the Postville plant in July and claiming on their website that the video was furnished to them “courtesy of the Five Towns Jewish Times.” At no time did PETA make a request to publish the video—and if one had been made, it would have been refused. The PETA agenda, amongst other things, is to denigrate laws that govern kashrus and practices that have been mainstays of kosher-observing communities for hundreds of years and more.
Additionally puzzling is the matter that it is a violation of U.S. law to employ illegal immigrants, but at the same time those illegals are permitted and even encouraged to become union employees. That’s astounding. How exactly does that work? Agri will shortly get its day in court, and there is no doubt that with the passage of time most of these matters will be rationally and effectively settled in a legal and proper manner. It should not come as a shock to anyone that the charges against Agri will ultimately be found to have been significantly and dramatically overstated. That’s how the prosecutorial arm of government works. It’s not unusual for the government to violate the law and its citizens’ rights in an effort to execute justice. It’s one of those quirks. I think its called “throwing the book at them,” all the while hoping that some of the charges brought will somehow stick.
There are many complicated issues that need to be viewed and analyzed from the perspective of the law—both Jewish and secular. One of the fundamentals is the presumption of innocence—and few people seem to be bothered by the neglect of such a presumption regarding the Rubashkin family. What we do know so far is that their meats are of high quality and superior kashrus. The question remains, though, as to what their automotive driving records are like.
Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com. ♦
1 - Posted on 9/12/2008 9:39:30 AM
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Right on...excellent
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by Anonymous |
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2 - Posted on 9/15/2008 4:49:44 PM
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Kudos to you Larry! Very Well Said!!!
Your Father R' Nissan A"h would have called these tactics by the the OU - Ma Yofis'nicks - who always try to make themselfs look Nice even though not always right, and don't practice the same at other manufacturing plants worldwide under their supervision, as you so well put it, I wish some other media sources would take the same approach, rather than slandering Rubashkin, etc.
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