Ex-workers Sue Swift
for Wages
December 19, 2006
By Jerry Seper / The Washington Times
A $23 million lawsuit by 18 former employees at
Swift
& Co., which was targeted last week in
raids by the government over its hiring of illegal
aliens, says the meat-processing company conspired
to keep down wages by hiring the illegal workers.
The former workers, all legal U.S.
residents who worked at a Swift processing plant
in Cactus, Texas, said they were the "victims
in a longstanding scheme" by the company
to "depress and artificially lower the wages
of its workers" by knowingly hiring illegal
aliens.
"By lessening its labor costs
and increasing its profits, Swift has severely
damaged the potential earnings and livelihood
of these hardworking men and women," said
lawyer
Angel Reyes,
III of Heygood, Orr, Reyes, Pearson & Bartolomei,
who represents the 18 former workers.
Swift officials did not respond
to calls for comment, although they have denied
any wrongdoing in the company's hiring practices.
The lawsuit, which seeks $23 million in exemplary
damages and the back wages they would have received
if they had remained employed, was filed late
Friday in
U.S.
District Court in Dallas. It accuses Swift
under the federal
Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO)
of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy to manipulate
commerce.
"When the Swift plant opened
in Cactus, wages were approximately $20 an hour,"
another plaintiffs attorney,
Michael
Heygood, told reporters in Texas. "Now,
the average wage is approximately $12 to $13 an
hour. Illegal immigration has fueled this depression
in wages."
U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
agents who swept through the six meat-processing
plants last week arrested 1,282 illegal aliens
as part of an ongoing investigation into a massive
identity-theft conspiracy. The arrests culminated
a 10-month ICE probe known as Operation Wagon
Train that targeted workers at Swift plants in
Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa and Minnesota.
Those arrested included illegal
aliens from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador,
Peru, Laos, Sudan and Ethiopia.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary
Julie L. Myers, who heads ICE, said the use of
fraudulent documents by illegal aliens seeking
employment has been a "significant problem"
that in recent years had evolved into a "disturbing
new trend."
Mrs. Myers said ICE investigators
discovered in February that Swift workers had
assumed the identities of others to circumvent
employment-eligibility screening and uncovered
evidence that hundreds of illegal aliens used
stolen Social Security cards and other identity documents to gain employment. She
said the illegals obtained the documents from
a variety of document rings and vendors.
Swift, which sought in an unsuccessful
lawsuit to stop the raids, has not been charged.
The company, which employs 15,000 workers, argued
that the raids would cause "substantial and
irreparable injury" to its business. That
lawsuit was filed Dec. 4 after ICE informed Swift
that the agency intended to remove illegal aliens.
The raids last Tuesday forced Swift
to suspend operations, but the company announced
Wednesday that it had resumed operations at all
six facilities, although at reduced output levels.
"All facilities continue to
operate today on all shifts. Initial output levels
are expected to be below normal levels over the
short term," the firm said. "The company
anticipates no adverse long-term impacts to its
operations and remains confident in its ability
to serve customers. No civil or criminal charges have been
filed against Swift & Company."
With more than $9 billion in annual
sales, Swift is the world's second-largest processor
of fresh beef and pork.
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