Turkey company used mentally retarded people as virtual slave labor

[SpiralHawk]

This story really honks me off. It is the culmination of the kind of Republicon Family Values put forth by that $400 million dollar draft-dodging republicon-corporate propagandist, Rush 'More-tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy' Limbaugh and his ilk.

Texas company says it didn't employ Iowa workers
By CLARK KAUFFMAN Des Moines Register
Jan. 28, 2010,

DES MOINES, Iowa — Henry's Turkey Service is denying allegations that it employed the mentally retarded men who lived in an Atalissa bunkhouse for most of the past 35 years.

The company filed court papers last week arguing that the Atalissa men “were all employees of West Liberty Foods while working at the West Liberty plant.”

Henry's Turkey Service, a Texas labor broker, sent hundreds of mentally retarded men to labor camps scattered throughout the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. One of those labor camps was in Atalissa, where Henry's placed at least 65 men in a bunkhouse rented from the city.

The men worked at the West Liberty turkey-processing plant. Henry's kept most of the men's wages as compensation for room, board and care, which meant the men's net wages often averaged 41 cents an hour..."

(snip) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6840234.html

[piratefish08]

1. Land of the free

Home of the brave.




disgusting.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Let them pull themselves up by their own turkey gizzards." - Republicons

[lunatica]

3. How nice. Use their wages to pay for their room and board

What a perfect idea. Zero losses where the labor is concerned makes for bigger profits for the company. Aah! Capitalism at its absolute best! A Republican's wet dream. Ain't that grand?!

[Fumesucker]

5. Not quite..

The net wages averaged 41 cents an hour, far more Republican if they had ended up with zero or even owing money to the company store.

[meow2u3]

6. Slavery, 21st century style

Exploit workers who are not bright enough to know they're being taken advantage of; pay them illegally low wages; and force them to live on the land and pay for their room and board, so they're effectively not just slaves, but serfs!

These poor guys are freakin' SERFS!!!

[lunatica]

7. They probably own the places their housed too

So, in effect they're paying themselves.

[Bosso 63]

4. I'm against the death penalty; however I wouldn't shed a tear

if they strung up someone for this.

[cyberswede]

8. Interesting story about the "Boys" in local paper...

A more personal perspective...

http://www.westlibertyindex.com/article.php?viewID=2288

Community members concerned about the well-being of the beloved Henry Boys
by Sara Sedlacek · February 11, 2009

Though there were several empty pews at Zion Lutheran Church in Atalissa last Sunday, two pews in particular felt especially vacant. Pastor Lynn Thiede made note of the empty pews, pointing to them with her right hand while covering her face with a program to shield her congregation from the tears beginning to flow down her cheeks.

“Wow, I’m going to miss those boys,” she said in a strained voice. “We just want to know they’re safe. God bless them.”

It took very little to urge the congregation to follow her downstairs to share stories about the “boys” who had made their home at Zion Lutheran Church for more than 30 years. The small congregation gathered around with coffee and chocolate cake and slowly began to recall their memories of the Henry Boys.

The Henry Boys aren’t really boys. In fact, they’re all grown men reaching retirement age. More than 30 years ago, the men were brought from Texas to Atalissa by Henry’s Turkey Service to work at West Liberty Foods. The 21 men worked at the plant cleaning and gutting turkeys. They lived in the old schoolhouse on top of the hill on the outskirts of Atalissa. The schoolhouse is painted a gaudy bright blue but not by accident. The boys chose that color and were proud of it.

Photos:

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. I don't see this in such binary terms.

I know a number of people who work in "sheltered workshops" which are essentially nonprofit businesses dedicated to providing employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities. In this state, those businesses are given an exemption from minimum wage laws to allow them to compete.

The people who work there are generally paid by benchmarking their ability to perform jobs. The benchmark is set by an average off-the-street worker, and the employees are paid proportional to minimum wage to their ability to meet that benchmark. People whose abilities enable them to perform the tasks at 25% of that benchmark are paid 25% of minimum wage.

One such business had the contract for janitorial services at my last place of employment. The workers I knew did a great job and said they enjoyed it.

The state is shutting down the sheltered workshops. The people who worked there are now both unemployed and frequently unable to be employed profitably in the traditional business world. It's really quite sad, because the benefits of employment go far beyond the $2.00/hour they earned.

I will go as far as to say that I suspect the bunkhouse was a better place to live than an institution.

I'm not saying that the turkey processor had good motives. I don't know that.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. {warning: VERY un-PC remark}

It's not just the labor.