16-05-2007
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) - Nearly 100 Somali immigrants have quit their jobs at a meatpacking plant here because their prayer times weren't accommodated.
"They kind of issued the company an ultimatum," said Dan Hoppes, president of Local 22 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
"They went in before the shift started (Monday) and said that they'd go unless they could pray when they needed to," Hoppes said Tuesday.
It was his understanding the workers - nearly half the Somali contingent at the packing plant - had been offered jobs at a Kansas plant that would give them time off for prayer and make other accommodations for their Muslim religion. He didn't know the name of the company.
Hoppes said the union contract contained no provisions for prayer, which for many Muslims is a minimum of five times a day.
"They had talked to a couple of our representatives," Hoppes said, "but you can't go into the middle of the contract and renegotiate those types of things. You've got a lot of different nationalities at the plant, a lot of different religious beliefs."
He said the company had tried to work with the Somalis, telling them: "'These are your break times. Can you fit it into that?'"
But, Hoppes said, "If you take a hundred people out of that line you gotta shut down the line. ... It's a real touchy subject."
Sean McHugh, vice president/investor relations, public relations and communications at Swift's headquarters in Greeley, Colo., said the contact calls for one paid 15-minute break and one unpaid 30-minute break per eight-hour shift.
He said Swift's policies and information about breaks are included as part of orientation for all new employees.
"Swift's 15,000 domestic employees represent a diverse mix of ethnicities and religious faiths," McHugh said. "The company has a history of making reasonable accommodations for legitimate religious practices. Swift has experienced no issues related to religious accommodations in recent years.
"The company expects no significant adverse impact to its Grand Island operations from today's event," McHugh said Monday.
Swift said Friday that it had refilled nearly 1,300 positions left open after immigration authorities rounded up workers at Grand Island and five other plants in raids the meatpacking giant said cost the company $45 million to $50 million.
wtf were they thinking?
These people piss the fuk out of me
