Web Exclusive: No walkout at Rubashkin, says Rabbi Weissmandl

"Friendly" conversation with owner not a job action, Kashrus supervisor says

EXCLUSIVE to The Jewish Star online- August 20, 2008

In a telephone interview with The Jewish Star Wednesday evening Rabbi Weissmandl acknowledged that production was interrupted for a short time Wednesday morning, but said it was the result of an impromptu "conversation" between a number of the ritual slaughterers and kosher supervisors and Heshy Rubashkin, a member of the family that owns the plant.

The conversation, which did interrupt production for a time, Rabbi Weissmandl said, began when the workers spotted Rubashkin on the production floor. The workers took the opportunity to ask that the company in some way make up for the income they've lost since the plant's workweek was shortened from six days a week to five. The cutback in hours is a consequence of the plant's reduced output since it was raided by Federal immigration agents in May.

The timing of the conversation was "shlemazeldik," Rabbi Weissmandl conceded - that is to say, unfortunate - coming as it did in the middle of the morning's production run. The discussion between the workers and Mr. Rubashkin, which Rabbi Weissmandl said he participated in via telephone, ought to have been conducted in the evening, he said.

Weissmandl characterized the exchange as "friendly." The matter of reported delays in meeting payroll did not come up, he said. He admitted that there have been delays in paying the shochtim and mashgichim, as reported, though he wouldn't say on the record how long those delays have been. He denied that the delays have been as long as nine weeks.

Payroll lags of 2-3 weeks are commonplace in the kosher meat industry, according to Rabbi Weissmandl. He compared routine delays in meeting payroll to those commonly experienced by rebbeim and teachers in financially ailing yeshivas. The delays were the result of the company's current legal predicament, he said. Most recently child labor investigators recommended that charges be brought in connection with several dozen underage workers they discovered at the plant.

Rabbi Weissmandl said that the Agriprocessors company has been meeting its financial obligations to him in a timely manner. He confirmed that the mashgichim and shochtim are technically his employees but said that the money to pay them ultimately comes from Agriprocessors. He declined to say whether it is he or the Rubashkins who personally sign the shochtims’ paychecks.