The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "meatpacking" ...
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Postville Series
Postville, Iowa lost a third of its population on May 12, 2008 when the Dept. of Homeland Security raided a kosher meat-packing plant that resulted in nearly 400 undocumented workers were detained.
Tags: false identity; illegal immigrant; green card; Agriprocessors; St. Bridget's Catholic Church; union;
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Agriprocessors and Beyond: Inside the Kosher Meat Industry
This series of articles looked inside the kosher meat industry, a quietly guarded world worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The reporting began two years ago when the Forward's Nathaniel Popper wrote about the working conditions at the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors, in Postville, Iowa, setting off a wide-ranging debate in Jewish community. The paper has continued to follow the problems at Agriprocessors and reported early in 2008 on the debate withing the kosher industry about a widely used but apparently cruel method of kosher slaughter known as shackled and hoist. Then, in the middle of the year, federal agents, citing the Forward's reporting raided the Agriprocessors' plant in Iowa. Since the raid, the Forward has followed each legal development, but has also reported on elements of the story that were being overlooked. The first such article detailed the way in which Agriprocessors had handled immigrants and unions at its Brooklyn warehouse-sparking a case that went to the Supreme Court. The next set of articles investigated the working conditions in the rest of the kosher eat industry, with particular attention paid to the labor battles at Agriprocessors' biggest competitor, Alle Processing, which had been completely ignored. The article and chart on industry-wide conditions were the first effort to systematically set down the relative size and production of the major players in the kosher meat industry. The Forward also wrote a lengthy report on the immigrant workers from Agriprocessors who had been released from prison and ordered to testify in federal court against their supervisors, but were given no means to support themselves before the hearing date. After Agriprocessors declared bankruptcy, the Forward reported on the unnoticed consequences for the town and its inhabitants, from the lowly turkeys to the local bankers.
Tags: meat processing; kosher meat; agriculture; Agriprocessors; meatpacking; immigrant workers
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On the Job of Last Resort
The Omaha World-Herald reports on how the U.S Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has provided only "minimal oversight" over the contractors who clean up meatpacking houses every night. The World-Herald found that "most of these contractors are undocumented workers, and that their cleaning is every bit as dangerous as day-time meatpacking" -- and in fact their injury rate is four times higher than normal workers in the industry. In the demand for speed from employers, many of these workers "have lost fingers, arms and even legs when they tried to keep pace. Harried workers have been known to clean cutting and grinding machines while they are still running, which is a clear violation of federal safety rules." But with undocumented workers fearful to come forward because of their legal status, and some pushed out of their jobs by their bosses when they raise safety concerns, the situation is only getting worse. The World found OSHA gave considerably less scrutiny to the problem, in part because it lumped those cleaning packinghouses into the same industry category as "janitors and maids."
Tags: OSHA; meatpacking; meat; packing; food; industry; safety; workers; workplace; cleaning; cleaner; machine; agriculture; undocumented; illegal workers; immigrants; human resources; occupational safety; USDA; hispanic; latino; union; contracting; contractor
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The Most Dangerous Job in America: Thousands of meatpacking workers suffer crippling injuries each year. American slaughterhouses are grinding out meat faster than ever--an the production line keeps moving, even when the workers are maimed by the machinery. A special report from inside the nation's slaughterhouses.
This story explains how the American slaughterhouse industry works. The article explains how dangerous some slaughterhouses have become, and includes personal stories of people who have been hurt or injured while working at slaughterhouses. According to the article, "Meatpacking is the nation's most dangerous occupation. It has the highest rate of serious injury--five times the national average."
Tags: slaughterhouse; meat packing; meatpacking; danger; workplace; injury; dangerous jobs; meat; meatpacking industry; dangerous occupation
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ConAgra Meat Recall
The Denver Post analyzes the "inner workings of an ongoing recall by the ConAgra Beef Co. In Greeley, CO, which first began as a modest 354,200-pound call back and expanded into the nation's second largest ever. The plant was later shuttered because of recurring problems with contamination. The stories examine... violations at the plant and secrets kept from the government, the USDA's gaff in delaying it's own findings and warnings to the company and public, the public's inability to learn whether they have contaminated meat, and ConAgra's broken promises to inform the public."
Tags: meatpacking; ConAgra; Colorado; food poisoning; USDA; contamination; meat
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The Chain Never Stops
Mother Jones looks at the meatpacking industry, which is described by the Bureau of Labor statistics as "the nation's most dangerous occupation." In Texas, meatpacking is even more dangerous because the local government has laws that protect businesses, not workers.
Tags: worker safety; Mother Jones; meatpacking; ConAgra; IBP
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Outbreak
The Washington Post Magazine investigates the failure of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prevent 21 deaths caused by contaminated meat from Sara Lee Corp. The story reveals that the contamination occurred because of moisture problems in the cooling section of "the giant Bil Mar Foods meatpacking plant in western Michigan." While deaths were tolling, the USDA was leery to issue a press release for fear not to face the legal implications of wrongly accusing the meatproducer. Even though Bil Mar quietly recalled the deadly products from the market, people were still eating meat kept in refrigerators or supermarkets and contaminated with the dangerous Listeria bacteria, the magazine reports. A major finding is that government lacks regulatory power to recall unsafe foods, as well as penalties system for repeated violations in the food industry.
Tags: health; FDA; meat; bacteria; contamination; Sara Lee; CDC; listeria; sanitation; immune system; pregnancy; hot dogs; deli meats; consumers; lawsuits
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Meth Effect in Iowa
A Des Moines Register reports "No one suggests that the meatpacking companies have any direct role in the state's meth problem. The picture painted by authorities and workers is that the plants accidentally bring a concentration of supply and demand to the communities.... Meatpacking officials argue that the Hispanic workers they attract are being used as scapegoats for Iowa's meth problem. And, they say, the meatpacking industry is unfairly blamed for a scourge that seeps into white-collar businesses, too."
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Poison Package
The Washington Post Magazine looks into a deadly disease outbreak that started from negligent behavior at a Michigan meat-packing plant. The outbreak of listeria killed at least 21 people and caused a multi-million dollar recall. The reporter cites other investigations where journalists used FOIA requests, interviewed sources across the country, and reviewed more than 10,000 pages of documents.
Tags: food; safety; meat; Bil Mar Foods; health; disease; Sara Lee
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INS Declares War on Labor
The Nation looks at the Immigration and Naturalization Service's new initiative to find illegal immigrants: Operation Vanguard. Chronicling the INS's first test of the sting operation in Nebraska, the reporter takes a sympathetic approach to the victims of Operation Vanguard relaying their stories and hardships.
Tags: Social Security; meatpacking industry; INS; immigrants