The headlines look ugly:
.
Swift plants raided for illegal immigrants
http://khastv.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7760
KHAS-TV Production at a Grand Island meat packing was shut down
Tuesday morning after immigration officials raided the facility. At
7:30 Tuesday morning, dozens of unmarked law enforcement vehicles
stormed into the parking lot at Swift and Company.
Authorities tell us Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided
the plant to arrest illegal immigrants using stolen identities.
Officials say the illegal immigrants were improperly obtaining and
using social security numbers to gain employment at Swift.
.
Tip #1: Complaining *looks* good to the public worried about
police-stateism and worker rights:
"Swift believes that today’s actions by the government violate the
agreements associated with the Company’s participation over the past ten
years in the federal government’s Basic Pilot worker authorization
program and raise serious questions as to the government’s possible
violation of individual workers’ civil rights."
.
.
.
"All the facilities except Hyrum are unionized."
...Maybe they won't be after the immigrant workers have been harrassed
often enough.
But don't say that in public....
Contact:
Sean McHugh
Vice President
Investor Relations and Communications
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(970) 506-7490
U.S. IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS COMMENCE EMPLOYEE INTERVIEWS
AT SIX SWIFT & COMPANY FACILITIES
GREELEY, COLO., December 12, 2006 – Swift & Company today announced that
this morning, agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division and other law
enforcement agencies commenced employee interviews at six Swift &
Company production facilities, located in Cactus, Texas; Grand Island,
Nebraska; Greeley, Colorado; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and
Worthington, Minnesota, in connection with an investigation of the
immigration status of an unspecified number of Swift workers. All the
facilities except Hyrum are unionized. No civil or criminal charges have
been filed against Swift or any current employees.
Operations at the affected Swift facilities have been temporarily
suspended pending the anticipated end-of-day completion of the interview
process. Shortly thereafter, Swift expects to resume operations, but
production levels will depend on the number of employees, if any,
detained for further interviewing or otherwise unable to return to work.
At this time, Swift cannot assess how, if at all, the results of the
employee interview process will affect its business or results of
operations. Any loss of a significant number of employees at any
facility could adversely affect the operations of that facility until
Swift is able to replace any lost members of its workforce and return to
normal production levels. The six facilities represent all of Swift’s
domestic beef processing capacity and 77% of its pork processing
capacity. The Company also operates a pork processing facility in
Louisville, Kentucky.
Swift believes that today’s actions by the government violate the
agreements associated with the Company’s participation over the past ten
years in the federal government’s Basic Pilot worker authorization
program and raise serious questions as to the government’s possible
violation of individual workers’ civil rights.
Swift & Company President and CEO Sam Rovit said: “Swift has never
condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor have we ever
knowingly hired such individuals. Since the inception of the Basic Pilot
program in 1997, every single one of Swift’s new domestic hires,
including those being interviewed today by ICE officials, has duly
completed I-9 forms and has received work authorization through the
government’s Basic Pilot program. Swift has played by the rules and
relied in good faith on a program explicitly held out by the President
of the United States as an effective tool to help employers comply with
applicable immigration laws1.”
1 Basic Pilot fact sheet
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060705-6.html)
- 1 -
More:
http://www.swiftbrands.com/media/releases/2006_12_12_Swift_ICE_Interviews.PDF
