I ' a: , , . : 0 °Olt II - I HEALTH SYSTEM • ing my little dialogue, they said, `That's the past:" Rael recalled. "I said, `Yeah, but the past is what created the prob- lem: If their intent is to move forward, I can't move forward until this issue is totally, totally done." ❑ -" *A ,rwt llh`. 4611111`. - ' vird ft___/W/ Cii414, the main issue now should be how to move forward. Rael said he won't be ready for that until various problems, like employee back pay, are worked out. "The minute that I got through giv- ......):- T Oj et:&kiti' 47n,e4 IL7D 4TH ANNUAL LUNCHEON A New Agriprocessors Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency New York at the Shenandoah Golf; Banquet & Country Club West Bloomfield, Michigan — Featuring Boutique Shopping Join us for a special day with Geralyn Lucas, author of Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy. At the age of 27, Geralyn Lucas was diagnosed with breast cancer without a trace of family history. Today, Geralyn is the author of a memoir that Publishers Weekly called "immensely empowering." Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy was voted a top consumer health book of 2004 by Library Journal, and picked as a best book of 2004 by Borders. Why I Wore tfaae. - 114 GEJSALYS LUCAS Geralyn was an editorial producer at ABC News' 20/20 for seven years where her stories won many awards, including the Emmy. She has spent the last several years at Lifetime Television. She is now a Director of Corporate Communications at the network, where one of her projects is Lifetime's initiative Stop Breast Cancer for Life. Geralyn lives in NewYork City with her husband Tyler, daughter, Skye Meredith, and son, Hayden.This summer, Geralyn celebrates her 13th year of survivorship. Ticket prices start at $100 each. Call (248) 853-3636 or email ghorwit1@hfhs.org for more information. 6 -tewial-74,twly, 11 Registration and Boutiques Open Luncheon and Keynote Address Boutiques Close 9:30 A.M. 1 P.M. 3 P.M. A.M. - &ewe aur,A.,,,, eeer-fild, eit2rt.-2,,, Shari Ferber Kaufman Miriam Ferber Francee Ford and Micki Kline Florine Mark and Lisa Lis 'Oak e ::,, ), - , tions inside the plant, and more than a few beards and side curls on the assembly line, belonging to rabbis pressed into emergency service. "To the media, this looks like a for- profit company on one side, and on the other side, individuals who are hurting and suffering," said Abrahams, as he conducted a two-hour tour of the plant for a reporter. "But the company (7 e:/ //11:ok .21 .2008 . Tour Revelations A tour revealed many empty worksta- Workers' Perspective Some new workers, however, tell reporters their paychecks show unex- pected deductions; several of those workers have since quit. The employment campaign is bearing fruit. Hopeful workers are pouring into town, from Somalia and Krygystan, from Chicago and else- where in Iowa, all lured by the $10- an-hour wages, plus time and a half after 40 hours and raises for expe- rienced workers. That's significantly more than the $7 to $7.50 hourly wages paid before the raid and more than these workers say they can make at home. 9-fieeZ-zed4,47, *.irdr Abj. 0 n a recent Monday, about 60 people were milling around Jacobson Staffing, the national employment firm contracted by Agriprocessors to replace hundreds of workers lost in the May 12 federal immigration raid. One woman chats in Russian on her cell phone. Thirty Somalis, the women in traditional dress, huddle under a shady tree. A group of young white men, most of them locals, sit apart from half a dozen African Americans who arrived the day before on a temp agency bus from Indianapolis. Agriprocessors is hurting. According to Chaim Abrahams, an executive acting as company spokes- man, the plant lost the majority of its workers after the raid. Nearly half of the plant's 800 employees were arrest- ed for working without documenta- tion, and many others "disappeared in fear:' he said. The company, which until May sup- plied the bulk of the nation's kosher beef and 40 percent of its kosher poultry, has been trying desperately to replace those lost workers, offering higher wages and working through employment agencies across the United States in an attempt to return badly damaged production levels to normal. is also hurting and suffering. We are not able to keep up production levels and reach out to our customers?' Nearly three months after the raid and six weeks before the busy High Holidays season, kosher butchers and restaurant owners in the United States still report higher prices and irregular supplies of meat and poultry. The tour makes it clear the company is trying to clean up its act. New work- ers are vetted through E-Verification, a federal system that checks work eligibility and legal status. Signs to that effect are displayed prominently throughout the plant, and those show- ing up for work are quick to tell reporters they have all their docu- ments in order. The plant is immaculate, with no discernible smell other than chlorine. Health and safety measures, includ- ing yellow chains separating raw food from ready-to-eat products, are con- spicuously in place. Agriprocessors is pouring money into new equipment, including an automatically timed salting and soak- ing process that went online a couple of months ago. New workers say they are receiving their overtime pay, in contrast to workers before the raid who say their pay stubs were doc- tored. Benefiting The Francee & Benson Ford Jr. Breast Care &Wellness Center at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital ,,, kede d al/1mA al (14244 Francee and Benson Ford jr. • - • , err' EALTH SYSTEM HENRY FORD HEALTH PRODUCTS lel Huntington DIAMONDS & FINE j EELif W Y sode>0 meijer UPERIO , Making every day a better day ❑ 1414070 August 14 • 2008 A31