Tyson Somali workers protest

Shift change said to cut into prayer

A group of Tyson workers from Somalia protested Tuesday in South Sioux City, Neb., after schedule changes at a nearby meat plant reportedly affected the times when they can pray.

Production in some areas of the Tyson Fresh Meats plant in nearby Dakota City came to a halt Tuesday after employees disagreed with management's decision to push back the scheduled break times.

A significant number of Somalis work at the plant, and some of them said the plant's decision infringed on their Muslim beliefs.

Several workers reportedly were sent home for the afternoon.

A Tyson spokesman confirmed that production was halted in parts of the plant Tuesday, but operations resumed Wednesday.

"We experienced a disruption in part of the plant Tuesday after break-related questions were raised by some Team Members," Caroline Ahn said in an email.

The changes occurred after a recently ratified contract with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, according to the company statement.

"After discussions with our workers, we have resolved a misunderstanding about break times at our Dakota City plant," Ahn said Wednesday.

The day before, dozens of Somali workers from the Tyson Fresh Meats plant stood in protest solidarity outside a grocery store.

South Sioux City police officers arrived about 4:15 p.m. after receiving complaints about the crowd standing outside the store at Dakota Avenue and 13th Street.

Officers left "shortly after acknowledging that it was a peaceful protest," said Lt. Chris Chernock, with South Sioux City Police Department.

Chernock said this wasn't the first time he's heard of foreign workers becoming upset about disruptions in their scheduled break times.

"Historically, there's been unsubstantiated reports of slight grumbling from workers at the plant, but never any protests," he said.

An unidentified restaurant employee who works near the grocery store site where the workers were protesting said he has friends who work at the Tyson plant and that they had explained their concerns to him earlier in the day Tuesday.

Adherents of the Muslim faith pray together at scheduled times, however, plant management reportedly told the employees that they had to delay their prayer break until a later time.

The crowd left the grocery store parking lot around 9 p.m. Tuesday, the employee said.

"They went back to work today, so it seems like the problem has been solved," he said Wednesday.

After hearing the news of the Somali workers, Mahmoud Hassan Hassanein, imam of the Islamic Center of Little Rock, said the early morning prayers are the most important for Muslims, but in this case, they should have respected their employer.

"The prayers shouldn't have disrupted their work," Hassanein said.

The Dakota City plant employs about 4,500 people. The number of people who stopped working because of the dispute was unclear.

Business on 06/29/2017

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