JBS Swift fires 86 Muslim workers

Close to 100 Muslims are no longer working at the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Grand Island.

Dan Hoppes, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 22, said about 50 to 80 Muslims quit Thursday night. He said the matter stemmed from the recent debate over break time for the purpose of prayer during the holy month of Ramadan.

But JBS Swift confirmed 86 firings to The Associated Press late Friday, saying the employees were terminated earlier that day for repeatedly leaving work without authorization.

Police said Thursday night that there had been a verbal altercation in the plant cafeteria.

"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," Hoppes said, "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."

But there was fear that it might get physical, so the police were called to the Swift plant at about 9 p.m. Thursday.

"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 left were from B shift -- the evening shift that typically works from 3 to 11:30 p.m.

However, on Friday, a Somali-American leader in Omaha said a much higher number of Muslims no longer work at the plant.

Mohamed Rage with the Omaha Somali-American Community Organization told The Associated Press that 80 workers were thrown out after Thursday night's altercation. When they tried to return for their shift on Friday, he said, they were fired, along with 70 others.

"I have no way of verifying those numbers," Hoppes said late Friday afternoon.

He said he did know that Swift human resources employees were checking all workers at both gates as they arrived for Friday's B shift. The HR staff checked "everybody that walked through the gate" to see if they had accumulated enough points through absenteeism or other offenses to warrant their dismissal.

"There were people terminated at the gate," he said.

Hoppes said he didn't know how many workers were fired on Friday.

About 500 Somalian workers had staged a 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.

Otherwise, things seemed to be back to normal at the plant on Friday, 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 early in the day.