Somali
workers fired at Colorado packing plant in prayer dispute Nearly 200 workers, mostly Somali
immigrants, have been fired from a meat-packing plant in Colorado after staging
a walkout to protest what they said were insufficient prayer accommodations,
the company and Islamic advocacy groups said on Thursday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the
workers were treated in a “discriminatory manner” by managers at the Cargill
Meat Solutions [CARGIL.UL] facility in Fort Morgan, about 75 miles northeast of
Denver. Jaylani Hussein, a spokesman for CAIR, said in a YouTube video
posted by the group that the workers objected to new restrictions on their
ability to worship on the job, "which they had been granted for a long
period of time."
“All of these employees are good employees (and) don’t have any
other issues,” Hussein said, adding that the dispute stemmed from a
"misunderstanding on policy changes" by Cargill regarding workplace
prayer.
Mike Martin, a spokesman for Minneapolis-based Cargill, disputed
assertions the company had changed its policy, noting that since 2009 the Fort
Morgan plant has set aside an on-site “reflection area" for people of all
faiths.
“Cargill makes every reasonable attempt to provide religious
accommodations to all employees based on our ability to do so without
disruption to our beef-processing business,” he said. He said the degree of
flexibility the company can extend for prayers depends on a variety of factors,
including daily work-flow considerations.
Martin said about 200 workers walked off the job last week and
were warned that failing to show up for work on three consecutive days without
calling in could jeopardize their employment.
Plant managers met with the workers, members of the Somali
community and Teamsters union leaders who represent nearly 2,000 hourly workers
at the plant but were unable to resolve the issue, he said.
After 190 workers failed to show up without notice for three
days straight, “termination procedures were initiated" and those workers
were dismissed, Martin said.
Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Human Rights
Commission, said Cargill managers may not have understood that depending on the
time of year Muslims are required to pray at different times during the day. Jamal
said his organization has contacted Cargill to see if the workers can get their
jobs back.
”Hopefully, there can be a clear policy in place that everyone
understands that would solve the problem,” he said. Cargill employs 155,000
people in 68 countries, according to the company’s website.
Comments
Multiculturalism
is possible with most cultures and religions, but when you relocate Muslims in
the US it’s a disaster. They are used to
Sharia law and a country that caters to Islam. The US citizens want US law, not
Sharia law or international law.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment