Posted on 09/19/2008 1:20:26 PM PDT by AuntB
GRAND ISLAND —
About 50 to 80 Muslims quit at the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant Thursday night.
Dan Hoppes, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 22, said the matter stems from the recent debate over break time for the purpose of prayer during the holy month of Ramadan.
"There were some Muslim people who wanted to get the rest of the people to back them to moving their (dinner) break to an earlier time, and when that did not happen, the rest of the people went back to work and those people protesting got loud and boisterous. It wasn't a physical altercation at all," Hoppes said.
But there was fear that it might get physical, so the police were called into the Swift plant about 9 p.m.
"By the time the police got there, it was settled down, and several of them went ahead and quit or left the plant," Hoppes said. "They were told either go back to work or leave.
"Some of them chose to leave -- to quit," Hoppes said.
The workers who quit were from B shift -- the evening shift that typically works from 3 to 11:30 p.m.
About 500 Somalian workers had staged a similar prayer protest on Monday and Tuesday. An earlier dinner break time was negotiated with the Muslims, Swift and the union, but that was then rescinded after the majority of other Swift workers counterprotested on Wednesday and Thursday.
Things seemed to be back to normal at the plant today, Hoppes said.
"The morning shift started (Friday) morning -- I think they are full, and the B shift, if they are short that many people, it will be a little slower, but they are planning (to run) just like regular," he said.
A call to Swift's corporate headquarters in Greeley, Colo., was not returned.
You can’t make this stuff up!
Good riddance.
Green eggs and ham.
Let the smucks eat grits.
In fact, let them go home to that cesspool of sharia law called Somalia.
They could do like NASA does, in many locations, and turn personel over to an “independent contractor”, while only retaining management & supervisory positions in the plant. Then, the “contractor” is replaced at the end of the 1, 2, or 3 year contract. The “new” contractor (i.e. Replace ABC Inc with ABC Assoc, Inc that just coincidentally has the same ownership as the now defunct ABC Inc did.) retains the “temps” they want, and replaces the rest. The retained, since they are now working for a “new” employer, retain seniority for retirement; remain vested in insurance programs; but start over again on the vaction & leave ladder.
good. if we can only get them to leave the country.
btt
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