Cargill changes re-hiring policy after firings over prayer dispute

Fired Muslim workers in Fort Morgain can reapply for jobs 30 days after termination date

The 100-plus Somali workers fired by Cargill Meat Solutionsin Fort Morgan during a workplace prayer dispute in December will be able to reapply for jobs at the beef plant later this month, should they want to come back.

Wichita-based Cargill Inc. said Friday changes to company policy will allow any employee terminated for attendance violations or job abandonment to reapply “for potential rehiring” 30 days after his or her termination date.

Previously, former employees had to wait six months before they could reapply.

“This change will provide for an orderly and expeditious reapplication process for people seeking an opportunity to potentially fill vacant positions at our beef plants,” Cargill Beef president John Keating said.

Cargill on Dec. 23 fired about 150 second-shift employees for violating the company’s attendance policy after they failed to call in or show up for work for three consecutive days.

The fired workers, most of whom were immigrants from Somalia, had been protesting what they thought were changes to time allowed for Muslim prayer.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which represented more than 100 of the fired employees, said Friday their clients “want to return to work and support their families.”

“We hope this means that Cargill will continue to consider changes to other policies, particularly the policy on prayer accommodation,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR Minnesota and a spokesman for the group. “There has been a pattern of hostility to their daily requests for prayer accommodations.”

The employee protest began Dec. 21, according to CAIR, after an incident Dec. 18 in which a group of “workers were told: ‘If you want to pray, go home.’ ”

Cargill, however, said the “vast majority of religious accommodation requests are routinely granted” during the plant’s two work shifts.

“The terminations at Fort Morgan appear to be based on a misunderstanding, or misinformation, about a perceived change in our religious accommodation policy that did not occur,” Keating said. “Allegations that we were not going to allow prayer any longer are false.”

Since 2009, the Fort Morgan plant has provided a “reflection room” where Muslim workers are allowed to pray.

Initial reports from Cargill put the number of fired employees at 190, but the company said Friday the final count is closer to 150.

It was discovered upon closer review of the data that “several dozen” people included in the initial figure were actually out with an excused absence, spokesman Michael Martin said.

The plant has already filled more than 30 second-shift openings. Workers earn $14 per hour and up and are represented by a union, Teamsters Local 455.

“We have been operating at a significantly reduced capacity of beef production on our second shift since before Christmas,” Martin said. “There is certainly a desire to fully staff the second shift and operate at capacity.”

How many jobs will still be available in late January is unknown, he said. All former employees interested in coming back will have to go through same hiring process as if they were brand new to the plant.

“In a 2,100-employee beef processing plant, there are always some number of openings. In the course of a year, there’s a substantial amount of turnover simply because the type of work is demanding,” Martin said.

“Backfilling the 150 vacancies that were created by the terminations is challenging in a community the size of Fort Morgan,” he said. “We’re anticipating that there will be openings when people reapply.”

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