feet when she knelt to pray at JBS Swift & Co. Grand
Island plant. Abdi, who is Muslim, was told she couldn't
pray and was told to go home. A group of 500 Muslim
workers, including members of both the A shift and B
shift walked off the job Monday Sept. 15, 2008 and staged
a protest after being denied time to pray during Ramadan.
By Tracy Overstreet
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 told her to go home.
Another woman, Hawo Mohammed, said she told her production supervisor she needed to go to the bathroom. She attempted to pray quickly in the bathroom until the male supervisor followed her in and told her she was taking too long.
"The main point is freedom for religion," said Ridwan Abbi, a second-shift production worker who gladly supported his peers.
The workers said they pray about four to five times a day -- two times of which fall during the A shift schedule and two of which fall during the B shift. Read more ...
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 told her to go home.
Another woman, Hawo Mohammed, said she told her production supervisor she needed to go to the bathroom. She attempted to pray quickly in the bathroom until the male supervisor followed her in and told her she was taking too long.
"The main point is freedom for religion," said Ridwan Abbi, a second-shift production worker who gladly supported his peers.
The workers said they pray about four to five times a day -- two times of which fall during the A shift schedule and two of which fall during the B shift. Read more ...
Source: The Grand Island Independent
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