• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Agriculture / More public complaints of "bunkhouses" like the one in Atalissa

More public complaints of "bunkhouses" like the one in Atalissa

April 14, 2009 By admin

State officials have received complaints about at least eight unlicensed boarding facilities since the high-profile case of a substandard boarding house in Atalissa came to light in February.

Mentally retarded men were removed from the former Atalissa schoolhouse and state officials say the men were malnourished and their only source of heat had been space heaters.

A bill pending in the legislature would let the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals use federal money to pay for inspections of such boarding houses, but Representative Vicki Lensing, a Democrat from Iowa City, suggests the bill is still being crafted.

"I think going forward there will be other pieces that have been identified that we will hear about," Lensing says.

The bill, as currently written, calls for employers who pay disabled workers a lower wage to report that wage to the state. The men in Atalissa worked at the West Liberty meatpacking plant and the firm that ran the "bunkhouse" in Atalissa collected their wages in return for room and board — wages that were substantially below the minimum wage.

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Democratic Party, Employment and Labor, Legislature, Republican Party

Featured Stories

Governor signs Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard into law

Jury returns guilty verdict in shooting death of State Trooper

A haboob, a dust storm black out, hits northwest Iowa

Summit has easements for 20% of carbon pipeline route through Iowa

Morel mushroom hunters on hold without warmer conditions

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa Special Olympics Summer games set to open in Ames

Radio Iowa/Baseball Coaches Association High School Poll 5/16/22

Iowa assistant coach Kirk Speraw to retire

Northern Iowa prepares for Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament

T.J. Otzelberger announces staff changes at Iowa State

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC