Muslim advocates said Friday that federal officials determined a Nebraska meatpacking plant wasn’t doing enough to accommodate the religious needs of its Muslim workers but stopped short of laying out specific recommendations.
The Chicago-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission outlined its decision in a letter sent to the organization this week. The decision comes after a nearly yearlong investigation into conditions at the Grand Island JBS plant, where hundreds of Muslim workers walked out in protest last September because they weren’t given time to pray.
“It’s a favorable finding ... it’s definitely a victory,” said Rima Kapitan, an employment attorney who worked on the case for the council.
Company and union officials said Friday they were disappointed with the timing of the letter because they’ve already made progress to alleviate workers’ concerns. The letter came a week into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
EEOC spokesman James Ryan declined comment, saying the agency is barred from publicly discussing complaints or its investigations.
The day after the Sept. 15 walkout, plant management adjusted work schedules to accommodate the Muslim workers. But that prompted a protest by hundreds of non-Muslim workers who said Muslims were given preferential treatment. Plant managers responded by ending the shift changes, saying the new break times weren’t working.
The Greeley, Colo.-based company later fired 86 workers at the plant for walking off the job. It eventually hired back about a dozen.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations helped file some of the dozens of complaints with the EEOC that alleged discrimination based on religion, race and tradition or national origin. The council received the EEOC letter because of the group’s involvement, said council spokeswoman Amina Sharif.
The letter, dated Aug. 25, doesn’t offer specific recommendations for what company officials should do to accommodate Muslim workers but encouraged employees, the union and the company to work together on solutions, according to letter excerpts read to The Associated Press by Sharif.
Council officials said they couldn’t release the entire letter because of client confidentiality concerns.
Jill Cashen, a spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, said discussions have already been successful and hopes the letter doesn’t set them back.
“We believe we’ve built important bridges across the various work forces over the past year,” she said.
Union officials said the plant employs about 2,700 non-management workers. About 250 Muslims currently work at the plant, down from about 500 the union said worked there last fall.
JBS spokesman Chandler Keys declined to say whether the company was considering rehiring workers who were fired after the walkout. But he said the company has tried to accommodate workers, including by giving them space and time for prayer. Cashen said they’ve tried to educate non-Muslims about Muslim observances.
Keys and Cashen said they believe the changes and ongoing discussion have helped, judging by the lack of reported problems now that Ramadan is under way.
“We all learned a lot from last year and no one wanted a repeat of that,” Keys said.