1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Nearly 200 Muslim workers fired in Colorado after walkout over prayer dispute

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by AroundTheWorld, Jan 2, 2016.

  1. AroundTheWorld

    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2000
    Messages:
    66,632
    Likes Received:
    44,348
    DENVER — Nearly 200 Muslim workers have been fired from their jobs at a Colorado meat-packing plant after walking out in a dispute over accommodating prayer in the workplace.

    The company, Cargill Meat Solutions, fired about 190 workers after they staged a walkout earlier this month after they say they were told to pray at home instead of being allowed to pray in a specially designated room at the plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

    Company officials and representatives for the workers, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said they continue to engage in negotiations.

    The dispute appears to center on the time of day at which workers are able to pray, which changes according to the season in the Muslim faith.

    In a statement to 9News in Denver, Cargill said that its policy on accommodating prayer in the workplace had not changed.

    “In the Fort Morgan plant, a reflection area for use by all employees to pray was established in April 2009, and is available during work shifts based on our ability to adequately staff a given work area,” said the statement.

    “While reasonable efforts are made to accommodate employees, accommodation is not guaranteed every day and is dependent on a number of factors that can, and do, change from day to day. This has been clearly communicated to all employees. Cargill makes every reasonable attempt to provide religious accommodation to all employees based on our ability to do so without disruption to our beef processing business at Fort Morgan,” the statement said.

    At a press conference Wednesday in Denver, Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-Minnesota, said that the families “are only asking for a simple request to pray which they have been granted for a long period of time.”

    He said the dispute was the result of a “misunderstanding on policy changes.”

    “All of these employees are good employees. They don’t have any other issues,” Mr. Hussein said in a video posted on YouTube.

    Cargill said in its statement that the workers were fired only after “multiple attempts were made to discuss the situation with local Somali employees without a successful resolution, including a Tuesday meeting at the plant management’s request.”

    “Plant management and union representatives met with Somali leaders without resolution,” the statement said. “Based on company policy, employees who do not show up for work, or call in, for three consecutive days were are risk for termination of their employment. Efforts were made to communicate to employees who did not show up for work to ensure they understood their jobs would be at jeopardy.”

    Based in Wichita, Kansas, Cargill has 155,000 employees in 68 countries, according to a company fact sheet.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/dec/31/muslim-workers-at-colorado-meat-packing-plant-fire/
     
  2. Rox11

    Rox11 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    7,941
    Likes Received:
    2,378
    Now that is ridiculous!
     
  3. AroundTheWorld

    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2000
    Messages:
    66,632
    Likes Received:
    44,348
    What is?
     
  4. Bobbythegreat

    Bobbythegreat Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2013
    Messages:
    63,169
    Likes Received:
    25,826
    Well, you walk out on your job, oftentimes you get fired. Not much of a story IMO
     
  5. ipaman

    ipaman Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2002
    Messages:
    13,020
    Likes Received:
    7,784
    Forget the lawyers, start praying for their old jobs back. That will work.
     
    1 person likes this.
  6. Liberon

    Liberon Rookie

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2009
    Messages:
    8,838
    Likes Received:
    842
    Sometimes you can read psychology books to become a well rounded good person and meditate to relax. But to the average person born and indoctrinated into religion that is their whole world and when it is constantly reinforced you can't ever trigger a person's skepticism.
     
  7. Rox11

    Rox11 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    7,941
    Likes Received:
    2,378
    So depending on the shift they might need to pray 3 times a day? Makes sense the company can not afford it. What company is this and how does it have that many muslims?
     
  8. Mathloom

    Mathloom Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2008
    Messages:
    18,151
    Likes Received:
    17,952
    You don't have to pray at those exact times if you have a good reason and work is considered worship in Islam. That's a pretty good reason to postpone prayers.

    I have to side with the company on this one unless they allow people to take, for example, multiple smoking breaks a day or favor any other group like people with children etc. It takes longer to smoke a cigarette than it does to pray.
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. AroundTheWorld

    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2000
    Messages:
    66,632
    Likes Received:
    44,348
    They should favor people with children. Children need more attention than it takes to smoke a cigarette.
     
  10. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    47,136
    Likes Received:
    35,935
    Valid point. Look, I find doing arbritary motions and murmuring giberish 5 times a day pretty silly but for those who have been indoctrinated with it since childhood, their prayer time often is an outlet to relieve stress like cigarettes. These prayers often take just 5 minutes which is the amount of time a typical cigarette break takes. If you can accommodate cigarette smokers, can't you accommodate these prayers? Or am I looking at it wrong?
     
  11. Ghettostar85

    Ghettostar85 Member

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2001
    Messages:
    925
    Likes Received:
    36
    As a muslim I agree with you!
     
  12. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    53,649
    Likes Received:
    41,527
    My understanding is that employment law provides for reasonable accommodation of religious practices and in other situations Muslims have been given break time for prayers. There seems like there was another case a few years ago where this came up. It sounds like from Cargill's statement they met the letter of the law so I'm guessing these workers don't have much of a case.
     
  13. Cohete Rojo

    Cohete Rojo Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2009
    Messages:
    10,344
    Likes Received:
    1,203
    They bring in ultra-religious Somali immigrants, and they quit over prayer time. Is Cargill desperate for employees and are the Somalis 5-year-olds?
     
  14. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    47,136
    Likes Received:
    35,935
    Reminds me of the evangelical base crying persecution at every opportunity.
     
  15. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    14,502
    Likes Received:
    1,831
    Sweet chocolate Christ, he's already agreeing with you.
     
  16. AroundTheWorld

    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2000
    Messages:
    66,632
    Likes Received:
    44,348
    Nope, he is saying that he sides with the company on the prayer stuff unless they give people with children more rights than the people who want to all pray together at the same times 5 times a day.
     
  17. sammy

    sammy Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2002
    Messages:
    18,949
    Likes Received:
    3,528
    Prayers are all throughout the day. As an example for most corporate folks (8-5), only the afternoon prayers would be relevant which takes 5 mins to do. I've seen people BS (smoke breaks every 1-2 hours, talk about the Texans game, etc) and it's not a big deal.
     
  18. Dei

    Dei Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2006
    Messages:
    7,362
    Likes Received:
    335
    Absolutely halal.
     
  19. Amiga

    Amiga I get vaunted sacred revelations from social media
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2008
    Messages:
    21,697
    Likes Received:
    18,476
    Up to the private sector employer. Outside of standard and required break times for employee, they can accommodate or not however they want as long as they are not favoring or discriminating against any group.

    If the standard and required break times isn't adequate, that's where they should work to change the law for ALL to benefit from.
     
  20. ipaman

    ipaman Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2002
    Messages:
    13,020
    Likes Received:
    7,784
    shouldn't take your religion to the workplace as it is work space, not a place of worship. keep that **** to yourself. it offends me when people practice their religion in front of me without my consent. no different than smoking bans due to second hand smoking in my opinion.
     

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now