Free Republic

One of the interesting things about the economy is how fortunes change with time. In the 1970's, the Rust Belt was hit particularly hard; in the dot.com (Web 1.0) era, vast fortunes were made in California; today, it is the Deep South who prospers -- Louisiana has actually gained jobs, while New York as the financial center, and California, with its profligate spending, have fallen upon hard times. Everyone seems to know about the travails of the banking industry. What about California? First of all, recall that their problems are not new. The Governator (and Kennedy spouse!), if you recall,...

This appears to be what is the final follow up on the story of the Muslims at Swift Plant who demanded extra break times to pray for the month of Ramadan. After a back and forth struggle which saw about 100 Muslims being fired, Swift will be paying the Muslims hundreds of thousands of dollars.

About 150 Muslim workers have been fired from a Grand Island meatpacking plant in a dispute over prayer... Plant officials at the JBS Swift meatpacking plant are bringing in Cuban workers to replace them...

Abdiamar Bare, 21, walks up to the nondescript mosque in Greeley for noon prayers and pauses a moment to talk about his faith. He is asked by a visitor if he's seen the DVD "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West." No, he says. He's asked if the principles of Islam allow other religions to coexist with it. "Every religion is the same. No religion is better than another religion," Bare says. "I believe in Islam. I like my religion, and I don't want it to interfere with other religions." Bare is one of about 120 Muslim workers recently fired...

OMAHA, Neb. — Officials at a meatpacking plant in Grand Island fired at least 86 workers Friday after they walked off the job amid a dispute over prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the company said. However, a Muslim leader and one of the fired workers disputed the plant's numbers, saying 150 people had lost their jobs at the JBS Swift & Co. facility, which employs about 2,500 people, not including management. About a fifth of them are Muslim. JBS Swift spokeswoman Tamara Smid, who confirmed 86 firings late Friday, said the action was taken against employees who...

First Swift Company tells Muslims that their demands for special break times would no longer be met. Now Swift has fired 150 Muslims who worked there. They were fired for being selfish and taking unauthorized work breaks to accommodate Islam. A few Muslim workers actually fainted on the job because of lack of food. Them fainting makes me wonder how much other Muslim workers slacked off this month due to lack of energy.

The walk out staged by the non-Muslims at Swift Plant has worked, at least for now. As the Muslim employees were told that their demands were causing too much trouble and they would not be met any longer. I applaud the non-Muslims at Swift Plant for not allowing Islam to be imposed on them. As for the Muslims there, they need to learn to keep their religion to themselves or move to an Islamic country.

GRAND ISLAND — A group of 500 Muslim workers from Grand Island's JBS Swift & Co. plant staged a protest Monday afternoon. Members of the B shift (3 to 11:30 p.m.) and some members of the morning A shift walked off the job after being denied time to pray during what they said is the holiest of times for them -- Ramadan. A group of protesting women said they were kicked by a supervisor when they attempted to pray at work. Asha Abdi said she knelt to pray when the supervisor said, "You can't pray here," kicked her feet and...

JBS Swift & Co. fires about one-fourth of 400 workers who had walked off the job, demanding break time to pray during the holy month of Ramadan. The union local says it will fight the action. ... When Ramadan began Sept. 1, workers said supervisors informally gave them time to break their daylong fast at sundown. But non-Muslim employees protested, and on Friday, JBS Swift & Co. officials refused to give workers break time to pray and eat. About 400 workers left the company's meatpacking plant, which dominates this city of 90,000. By Tuesday, 250 had not returned, and Swift...

At least 130 Muslim workers at the north Greeley JBS Swift & Co. plant were fired Wednesday afternoon, apparently over a dispute involving breaks during Ramadan. At issue is a request by Muslim workers to be able to take their lunch breaks at sunset to end their fast during Ramadan... expressed their dissatisfaction with negotiations by saying, “No prayer, no work.”

More than 100 Muslim workers were fired from a Greeley slaughterhouse Wednesday after refusing to report for work a day earlier in protest of the company's refusal to allow a prayer break during the work shift. ... "This action is a direct violation of our collective-bargaining agreement," Swift said of the walkout in a statement. "Employees were told . . . failure to report to work when recalled would result in their immediate termination." ... "There were no negotiations (Wednesday), nothing," said Ahmed Mohamud, a spokesman for the workers and one of those fired Wednesday. "I honestly thought we'd work...

Wednesday, September 10, 2008Talks break down between Muslims and Swift Chris Casey Talks between JBS Swift & Co. officials and Muslim workers seeking prayer breaks during Ramadan broke down Tuesday afternoon and turned into calls of breach of contract. The roughly 250 workers, who've been suspended since walking off the job Friday night, say they will not return to work and may take legal action. They also acknowledge they may face mass terminations. A mid-afternoon meeting between the Muslim representatives and about 80 of the suspended workers grew heated in a downtown Greeley park when the representatives relayed information to...

Sixteen months ago, federal agents swept into the Panhandle town of Cactus, Texas, in Moore County as part of a massive raid of Swift & Co. beef processing plants across the country. They arrested 297 workers on immigration violations and sent hundreds more fleeing the community for fear of more raids.

WASHINGTON - The explosion of a star halfway across the universe was so huge it set a record for the most distant object that could be seen on Earth by the naked eye. The aging star, in a previously unknown galaxy, exploded in a gamma ray burst 7.5 billion light years away, its light finally reaching Earth early Wednesday. The gamma rays were detected by NASA's Swift satellite at 2:12 a.m. "We'd never seen one before so bright and at such a distance," NASA's Neil Gehrels said. It was bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. However, NASA...

The FBI is investigating a Tennessee trucking company. Agents from the FBI, Secret Service, Bureau of Immigration and Customs and several other agencies searched the Swift Transportation trucking company in Memphis on Monday. Swift Transportation dispatches more than 500 trucks per day, transporting mainly for the United Parcel Service. Employees said agents seized computers but authorities have not released what they were looking for. "I haven't a clue,” said training driver James Richardson. “All I know is all of the training activities have been put on hold right now until an investigation is over...

Texan and super-conservative Bob Perry formally endorsed Brian Klock for the Texas Congressional seat in CD-22. A Republican candidate for the District 22 congressional seat will be getting a lot of attention today with a very unique campaign ad. klockforcongress.orgIt's yet to be seen just whether it's negative or in his favor. Now in the private sector, Brian Klock remains a commander in the US Navy Reserve. He's an underdog candidate trying to gain new ground. Later Monday, his campaign will unveil a billboard (pictured above) on the Southwest Freeway near Fountainview. It shows crosshairs trained on downtown Houston, it...

Muslim workers in Neb. allege harassment By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago Supervisors at a meatpacking plant have fired or harassed dozens of Somali Muslim employees for trying to pray at sunset, violating civil rights laws, the workers and their advocates say. The five- to 10-minute prayer, known as the maghrib, must be done within a 45-minute window around sunset, according to Muslim rules. The workers at the Swift & Co. plant in Grand Island say they quit, were fired or were verbally and physically harassed over the issue. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has drafted a...

Nineteen people were arrested at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants around the country as part of a sweep involving illegal immigrant workers at the plants, according to a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Agents made the arrests Tuesday in Cactus, Texas; Marshalltown, Iowa; Grand Island, Neb.; Worthington, Minn.; Greeley, Colo.; and Hyrum, Utah; where Swift has plants. They involved current or former Swift workers suspected of identity theft, ICE officials said in a news release. Seven of the arrests were at the Swift plant in Cactus, Texas, said Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman in Dallas. "Swift is to be...

AMARILLO, Texas -- Prison awaits the last four now-ex-workers of a Swift meatpacking plant in Cactus targeted in an illegal immigration bust. A federal judge in Amarillo today sentenced the final defendants of the 53 people arrested in the December 12th raid. Each pleaded guilty to charges related to false identification. Prosecutors say Jesus Gutierrez-Ramos, Manuel Castro-Pablo and Cristino Pablo-Alonzo pleaded guilty to using fraudulently obtained identity documents. Each must serve eight months in prison. Domingo Velasquez-Gutierrez pleaded guilty to the same charge and received a six-month prison term. No charges were filed against Colorado-based Swift.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- On Dec. 12, just after 7:30 a.m., Superintendent Steve Joel got a call from the police chief saying "something big" was about to happen at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant. Mr. Joel realized what that meant: Dozens of Swift workers were about to be rounded up in an immigration raid. What would happen to their children, students in his district? Would some seniors ever be able to graduate? "It was like a tornado," says the head of the Grand Island School District. The twister that struck this Midwestern town was part of far-reaching operation targeting...