OMAHA, NEB. — Five-hundred Muslim workers walked off the job Monday at a Grand Island meatpacking plant after they say they were denied time to pray during the Muslim observance of Ramadan.
A group of women at Grand Island’s JBS Swift & Co. plant said at a news conference they were kicked by a supervisor when they attempted to pray.
Hawo Mohammed said she tried to pray quickly in the bathroom until a male supervisor followed her in and told her she was taking too long.
More than 100 workers at a Greeley, Colo., Swift plant were fired last week because the company said they walked away from work before their shifts ended.
The workers blamed the company’s refusal to allow their breaks to coincide with sunset so they could pray.
Swift, which was purchased by Brazil’s JBS SA in March, has had problems with Muslim workers at the Grand Island plant in the past.
Dozens of workers from Somalia quit their jobs last year because they said they weren’t allowed to pray at sunset. They eventually returned to work.
