Seaboard Triumph Foods is denying allegations of abuse of employees who have come to work in Sioux City from Micronesia to work at their plant.
A statement released by the company Thursday says they recruit only employees who voluntarily want to travel to the United States to work with them, and all production workers including the Micronesians have the same employment rights with regards to absences and are free to exercise the attendance rights in accordance with the applicable policies.
The STF statement says the company does not have any employees’ passports in their possession and have not issued false social security numbers as have been alleged in a complaint.
Seaboard Triumph says after the workers arrive in Iowa, the Micronesian employees are assigned a temporary Tax Identification Number (TIN) until they receive their permanent social security card from the Social Security Administration which can take up to 90 days.
The temporary TIN ensures their ability to be paid under IRS regulations in the interim.
The company says they are proactively working with their Micronesian staff, the Sioux City Human Rights Commission, and the local United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union to address allegations of mistreatment and labor violations.
The company says it will continue to investigate until they’ve demonstrated to the
Micronesian Embassy how their Sioux City plant is compliant with all labor laws and
regulations and fully addresses their formal inquiry.