Posted on 08/24/2007 5:14:39 PM PDT by Pikamax
OMAHA, Neb. - Meatpacking plant officials accused of discriminating against dozens of Somali Muslim workers have offered to tweak break times to help accommodate the workers' prayer demands.
If the dozens of Muslim workers and Swift & Co. can agree on details, a resolution could defuse the dispute that started earlier this year when 120 workers at the Grand Island plant abruptly quit because they weren't allowed to pray at sunset.
Many say they were fired, quit or were verbally and physically harassed over the issue, and some have complained to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about the way they were treated.
In a letter to lawyers representing the workers, Swift said it could eliminate some break-time conflicts, and offered to negotiate more scheduling flexibility with the union to allow more prayer time if the workers agreed to the proposal.
Advocates for the workers said Thursday that they were encouraged by the proposal, but that they would not accept a proposal that failed to accommodate the prayers for the whole year.
"We'll continue negotiations with the company and hopefully we'll come out with a solution that everybody can deal with," said Rima Kapitan, a lawyer for the Council on American-Islamic Relations who is representing the workers in the dispute.
The five to 10-minute prayer, known as the maghrib, must be done within a 45-minute window around sunset, according to Muslim rules.
Tensions at the plant flared in May when 120 Somali workers abruptly quit over the issue. About 70 returned a week later, but the prayer dispute resurfaced through the late spring as sunset came later in the evening shift.
Swift spokesman Dan Schult said Thursday the negotiations were ongoing and declined to comment further.
But a lawyer for Swift said in a letter it would be possible to make prayer accommodations for most of the year. The Council on American-Islamic Relations provided a copy of the letter to The Associated Press.
"Swift concludes that it can potentially accommodate the maghrib prayer under the existing labor agreement, except on the following dates: Feb. 15 through March 8 (commencement of Daylight Savings Time), and May 23 through Aug. 1," Swift attorney Donald Selzer wrote in the letter dated Aug. 20.
The company also offered to go to union representatives to negotiate lengthening the dinner break window if the workers agreed to the proposal. Lengthening the window would mean fewer days when prayers could not be accommodated, Swift said.
But the president of the local United Food and Commercial Workers Union said Thursday that changing the breaks might not be feasible for other workers in the plant.
"I don't know that I can agree to that because I have 1,700 other people to worry about," said Dan Hoppes, Local 22 union president. "I have to look and see what they've got in mind."
Any changes could be a problem for other workers because supervisors at the plant determine breaks within allotted times, not the workers themselves. And breaks are required to be uniform for each employee.
Grinberg said religious discrimination cases make up a small percentage of the EEOC's total cases, but are growing faster than other kinds of cases.
Additionally, yearly complaints from Muslims have doubled in the last 10 years, from 221 in 1996 to 594 in 2006, Grinberg said.
If they don't like it here, they are free to live in a country that is operated according to prayer times.
TWICE!!
Awghhhghhhhghhhghhh!
Swift should put these MooSlime mo’fo’s on the pork processing line.
All other immigrants never pulled this Booolsheet!!!
dry too
Not prayer time! Next thing ya know, we won't have any hams!
Nothing says safety like pissed off muslims handling our food.
I’ll make sure not to so any business with anyone who compromises with muslims
ping
Isn’t Swift mainly pork and why are we catering to the enemy?
“Many say they were fired, quit or were verbally and physically harassed over the issue. . .”
“Tensions at the plant flared in May when 120 Somali workers abruptly quit over the issue.”
Which is it?
I have worked in Meat Packing Plant mgmt for years. Many times a plant will go to almost ridiculous lenghts to keep employees happy with the ultimate goal of keeping unions out.
I’m not sure if this plant is a union shop of not but my guess is they are not.
Nump
Your guess was wrong.
"Swift said it could eliminate some break-time conflicts, and offered to negotiate more scheduling flexibility with the union to allow more prayer time if the workers agreed to the proposal."
"The company also offered to go to union representatives to negotiate lengthening the dinner break window if the workers agreed to the proposal."
Same here. I think I’ll contact swift and ask them if they’ll be setting aside times for Catholics to say the Rosary anytime soon, or allowing Protestants to hold morning prayer. This is ridiculous. NO religious group in the history of this nation has ever been catered to like this, against normal company policy.
If they have to handle pork, how can the justify working there?
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