by Kevin Allenspach, St Cloud Times | SCTimes.com | August 22, 2011
An Electrolux building in St. Cloud, Minn., as seen on July 22, 2010. The company is adjusting its meal schedule to accommodate Muslim employees during Ramadan. (MPR Photo/Ambar Espinoza)
For a second consecutive year, the Electrolux plant in St. Cloud is the target of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint regarding Muslim workers and their ability to observe the Ramadan fast.
About a dozen employees have participated in the latest EEOC claim and are being represented by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, according to the Minnesota chapter of the organization.
Electrolux changed its break schedule for all employees this year to include two 15-minute breaks and a 20-minute lunch time that shifted depending on when the sun sets. In 2010, a Muslim employee filed an EEOC complaint alleging Electrolux threatened Muslim workers with termination if they broke their fast on the production floor. That resulted in an agreement allowing for two 10-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch time that shifted depending on when the sun set.
According to Taneeza Islam, civil rights director for the Minnesota chapter of CAIR, the reduction of 10 minutes for lunch this year doesn’t leave enough time to break their fast and complete their prayers.
“Last year, Electrolux was not accommodating at all but we were able to get something settled through mediation because we filed the complaint in July,” Islam said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t find out about the change this year until the first day of Ramadan (Aug. 1).”
Islam said Electrolux has not returned calls from CAIR, and she doesn’t expect a resolution before Ramadan concludes on Aug. 30.
“We just want to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.
Electrolux spokesman Tony Evans provided a statement Monday that read: “As a matter of policy, Electrolux seeks to accommodate the religious needs of all of its employees. In advance of Ramadan this year, via the union representing Electrolux employees, the company proposed three possible revised meal and break schedules for the Ramadan period and implemented the schedule preferred by the majority of the employees. As with the accommodation agreed to in 2010 with the involvement of the EEOC, this schedule allows Muslim employees time to break their fast and pray in a safe area away from the production line. Electrolux is confident that the current schedule reasonably and effectively accommodates the needs of its employees.”
Muslims make up about half of the 300-400 employees who work the evening shift at Electrolux.
Jim Kiser, a representative for the International Association of Machinists District 165 — a union that includes Electrolux workers, said Monday he had received no complaints and was unaware of the EEOC filing.
Electrolux in 2003 faced discrimination complaints when 165 employees complained to the EEOC that they were denied prayer time.
Source: http://www.sctimes.com/article/20110822/BUSINESS/108220060/Electrolux-workers-file-EEOC-complaint
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