[lbo-talk] Iowa meatpacker is fined nearly $10 Million

Bill Bartlett billbartlett at aapt.net.au
Thu Oct 30 00:45:33 PDT 2008


Brought to mind the old Slim Dusty song about an Aboriginal stockman:

Paddy Gramp by Slim Dusty

Oh-oh I come from Plurry Queensland, and my name is Paddy Gramp Work out on cattle station, 'long the white man mustering camp

I chase and throw the scrubber bull, ride buck jump horse for sport This ringer job I learn-em well, when knee high to a cork

Ten day along the week I work, and sometime longer still Boss say I catch-em overtime, when gov'ment pass the bill

There's sand mixed 'long the flour and no meat left 'long the bone When damper cooked to me he taste all same along grind-stone

In winter time one blanket job all night along a freezer Maybe bullock jump the rush and Paddy get the breezer

Oh pack-horse cook he all-time growl but me still none the wiser Policeman catch him plurry quick along the breathalizer

That stockman boss I tell 'im quick I pull-out from the station go walkabout along the creek once more with all elation

Boss take me to his office then and this is what he say: Oh I'll read your statement Paddy, before you get your pay.

Oh-oh there's a pound of black tobacco and a shirt and trouser set A pair of boots you never got and a hat you didn't get

There's a stock-whip and a cookpot what you didn't get you spent And of course there's our commission, roughly twenty-five percent

There's a dozen stubbie bottles, let me see that's twenty four and the refund on the empties means you're down a few cents more

There's sales tax plus the duty and the freight we'll multiply There's your cheque, a dollar fifty, cost of living getting high!

Oh-oh, so there you have it Paddy, wrote down in black and white But I'd like you just to check it and convince yourself its right

Oh but I knocks the slab right out of the old Kentucky home you know. I say to him :

It looks all right to me boss, I call back through the door I'VE BEEN SELLING CLEANSKIN MICKEYS FOR, THE, LAST. TWELVE, MONTHS, OR, MORE!

HAHAHAHAHA

At 10:44 PM -0800 29/10/08, Steven L. Robinson wrote:


>Meatpacker Is Fined Nearly $10 Million
>
>By Julia Preston
>The New York Times
>Published: October 29, 2008
>
>State labor authorities levied nearly $10 million in fines Wednesday for
>wage violations at an Iowa meatpacking plant where nearly 400 illegal
>immigrant workers were arrested in a raid in May.
>
>The fines against Agriprocessors Inc., one of the country's largest kosher
>meatpackers, were the largest wage violations penalties ever levied in Iowa,
>state officials said.
>
>About $9.6 million of the fines were for illegal paycheck deductions the
>company made for protective jackets and other uniforms that packinghouse
>workers were required to wear. Iowa inspectors found 96,436 deductions for
>uniforms from the paychecks of 2,001 workers, and brought fines of $100 per
>incident.
>
>The workers' wages had been reduced by $192,597, Iowa officials said.
>
>"You cannot legally deduct for clothing required by the company," said Kerry
>Koonce, a spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, the state's labor
>department.
>
>Agriprocessors was also fined $339,700 for illegally deducting more than
>$72,000 from the paychecks of 1,073 workers for "sales tax."

[...]



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