JOE GRENDY, KOCH FOODS, MISSISSIPPI ICE RAIDS, EXPLOITATION, LEGAL VIOLATIONS, HIRING ILLEGAL WORKERS

Michelle Martin

August 9 

I've been doing a bit of research on the companies that were raided this past week in MS. All six chicken processing companies have wealthy white owners, none of who have (yet) been charged criminally for knowingly hiring undocumented workers (and they did know, because all participate in the E-Verify program).

Here's some information about the largest company and the worst offender: Koch Foods, Inc. (no relation to the Koch brothers).

The CEO and president is Joseph C. Grendys, a 58 year old white man worth $3.3B.

Koch processes more than 50 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken per week, slaughtering 12 million chickens per week. Koch Foods, Inc. processes Wal-Mart's "Great Value" buffalo wings, chicken strips, chicken tenders and popcorn chicken, Burger King's chicken nuggets and other private-label brands at grocery stores, such as Kroger and Aldi (Archer Farms). https://www.chicagotribune.com/…/ct-confidential-chicken-bi…

Koch Foods, Inc. was raided under the Bush administration in 2007 for knowingly hiring undocumented workers, and they had to pay a fine of $536K in 2010: https://www.reuters.com/…/us-immigration-koch-idUSN28258450…

Apparently that fine wasn't enough of a deterrent for them, because they continued to hire undocumented workers. Why? Grendys' comment in the above-linked Chicago Tribune article explains the practice: maintaining a good labor force is very difficult and employee turnover is high.

They have also been targets of numerous allegations of egregious workplace conditions where Hispanic workers, particularly those without documentation were subjected to hostile and unsafe work conditions. Some of the proven allegations include denying workers bathroom breaks, sexually harassing and assaulting the female Hispanic workers, and harassing employees who attempted to unionize, including firing them and/or threatening them with ICE referrals.

One worker complained: "What I didn't like is they would yell at us and tell us we're good for nothing and we didn't know how to work, and sometimes they wouldn't even let us leave to go home when we were sick,"
https://www.nytimes.com/…/union-organizers-at-poultry-plant…

The work is grueling enough, but Koch Foods supervisors required workers to "chop" the chickens at a rate of 42-chickens-a-minute. "That pace means that many workers make 18,000 cuts during their eight-hour shifts as they prepare breasts, wings, tenders and cutlets for restaurants and consumers. If they couldn't keep up, or got injured, they were fired."

Also, the EEOC found on several occasions that the workplace conditions were dangerous and violated numerous safety laws. This resulted in injuries such as amputations and even death.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/…/koch-foods-cited-fo…http://src.bna.com/vWr
https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region4/01252018

Koch Foods, Inc. even had to pay one employee $1.9M for unsafe working conditions that led to the amputation of several fingers: https://www.wattagnet.com/…/32273-jury-rules-against-koch-f…

Here's one of the most egregious things Koch Foods, Inc. did. They not only knowingly hired undocumented workers (recruiting many from Texas border towns), they used their undocumented status to control and exploit them. A federal criminal investigation found that supervisors would often falsely tell undocumented workers that they'd received a "no-match" letter indicating a problem with their social security number, and for $700 the company could get them a new SSN.

And yet, it's not the company that gets charged criminally, it's the poor and vulnerable (and recruited!) undocumented workers: https://www.journal-news.com/…/sher…/aGsNHxQCJQVJmnK522l0iL/#

These workers made about $7.80 an hour, but if they worked in a darkened room where thousands of live chickens poured down a chute where workers grabbed them and killed them, and then hung them on a hook (about 40 per minute), they got $1 more per hour. If they worked in the "chopping" room, they got 50 cents more per hour.

Now, here's the suspicious part. In 2015 workers started organizing a union and Koch Foods, Inc. did everything they could (including outright harassment and firing organizing employees) to stop the action: http://ufcw75.org/…/illegally-fired-workers-win-settlement…/

And in 2016, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Koch for paying all Hispanic females significantly less than males, while giving them more work, and then firing them for complaining: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-30-19c.cfm

But in 2018, Koch lost a huge EEOC case for the overt sexual harassment of Hispanic female workers (mostly undocumented). This amounted to sexual harassment and assault as male supervisors felt free to grope and verbally harass the most vulnerable workers in the plant: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/8-1-18b.cfm

Are you suspicious that the targeted raid was planned apparently right after they lost this large EEOC complaint? Me too.

Also, in case you're wondering, Koch Foods, Inc. doesn't just discriminate against Hispanic workers, the company discriminates against black farmers as well: https://www.propublica.org/…/how-a-top-chicken-company-cut-…#

They abuse the chickens too: https://www.chicagotribune.com/…/ct-mercy-for-animals-chick…
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/…/animal-rights-group-claims-…/

And these seven companies aren't the only ones engaged in the practice of recruiting undocumented workers (because they are an easily manipulated and stable workforce). In 2001 Tyson Chicken executives were charged for recruiting undocumented workers from Mexico, and then providing them with fake identification (the workers thought their IDs were real, and were later charged criminally for having false identification papers.)

Despite clear-cut evidence, the case was dismissed in 2003, and no company has been criminally charged since (apparently it's bad for U.S. business).
https://www.nytimes.com/…/tyson-foods-indicted-in-plan-to-s…

It was later discovered Tyson executives paid bribes to government officials, prior to the charges being dropped. In response to the bribery the DOJ fined the company $5.2 million, but did not bring criminal charges.
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/business/11tyson.html

Apparently Tyson execs didn't learn their lesson either, because they were back at it in 2010!:
https://www.justice.gov/…/2013/05/06/02-10-11tyson_foods_dp…

This is nothing more than slavery. The more vulnerable and desperate the worker, the better. Recruit undocumented workers, give them fake identification, work them to the point of grave injury or death, and then cry "America First!" and fire them if they complain. Then INS/ICE can come in screaming "we're a land of laws!" and charge the undocumented workers with violating U.S. immigration laws, while letting the companies slide (better for the economy, right?). The companies can then start all over with a new crop of scared and vulnerable workers, and the problem of unionization and demands for better workplace conditions is gone..

But hey, I hope everyone (especially the anti-immigration folks out there) enjoys their cheap chicken wings...

https://truthout.org/…/mississippi-ice-raids-targeted-work…/

About this website

CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Inside billionaire Joe Grendys' chicken empire

Billionaire Joe Grendys company supplies Wal-Mart, Burger King, Applebee's with more than 50 million pounds of chicken a week.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-confidential-chicken-billionaire-1026-biz-20141024-column.html?fbclid=IwAR1Ix1j3AAQ3NZcVMm0jZhlV2xeMNUi7UrxTVDUl3s6Nt_3EHZ-Sbs-Mxck

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

ICE Raids Miss. Plant After $3.75 Million Sexual Harassment Settlement

‘If you’re a good worker, papers don’t matter’: How a Trump construction crew has relied on immigrants without legal status

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conduct a worksite enforcement operation in Canton, Mississippi. (photo: Charles Reed/ICE)

Families "Are Scared to Death" After a Massive ICE Operation Swept Up Hundreds of People
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed News
Aleaziz writes: "On Wednesday morning, Dianne received an alarming call. It was her fiancé, dialing her from the chicken processing plant in a nearby central Mississippi town where he worked long shifts deboning meat."
READ MORE

It is not publicly known how many children are being impacted by the arrests. (photo: WJTV 12)

Where Are My Parents? School on Standby to Help Children in Aftermath of ICE Raids
Sarah Fowler, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Fowler writes: "A Scott County child started kindergarten Tuesday. Wednesday, while the child was at school, their parent was arrested by federal agents, one of 680 people taken into custody after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted seven raids at food processing plants across Mississippi."
READ MORE

 @funder

THIS IS NOT AMERICA. THIS IS NOT WHO WE ARE. These are children of the 680 people arrested today by ICE in Mississippi. They are crying, because their parents are gone. And they were left by themselves. Don’t look away. Make this viral now. Shame on Trump

 Alex Love

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7:40 PM - 7 Aug 2019