Cargill has fired some 190 workers who walked off the job at its Fort Morgan, Colo., beef plant over a dispute about accommodation of religious prayer and did not return in time to keep their jobs per company policies.
Somali workers contended that Cargill had denied them prayer time beginning on Dec. 18, and they threatened to quit. On Dec. 21, theydid not show up for the second shift.
Cargill spokesman Mike Martin said the company hasn’t changed its policies with regard to religious accommodation or to job requirements of a packing plant assembly line.
“At no time did Cargill prevent people from prayer at Fort Morgan,” he said in an email to Meatingplace. “Nor have we changed policies related to religious accommodation and attendance.”
The plant has had a prayer room available to all workers during shifts since April 2009. The company “makes every reasonable attempt to provide religious accommodation” based “on our ability to adequately staff a given area,” Martin said. He added that, “accommodation is not guaranteed every day and is dependent on a number of factors that can, and do, change from day to day. This has been clearly communicated to all employees.”