Neb. Meat Plant Settles Dispute Over Muslim Prayer Time
By JEAN ORTIZ, Associated Press | September 18, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. — A union official says a dispute over Muslim prayer time at a Nebraska meatpacking plant has been settled.
The president of the local United Food and Commercial Workers Union said yesterday that managers at the JBS Swift & Co. plant in Grand Island will accommodate workers who want to pray at sunset during Ramadan.
Workers previously took a 30-minute break in shifts. Union local president Dan Hoppes says the entire line will now break at once.
Three hundred Muslim workers walked off the job two days ago and marched to City Hall.
The company did not return a phone message yesterday. Officials had said Tuesday that they hoped to balance workers' requests with the plant's needs.
