Appliance Manufacturer Under Attack By CAIR and Muslim Employees For Violating "Ramadan Rights"

Okay, here's the scenario: Electrolux, a manufacturer of freezers, instituted a policy in January of 2010 that there would be NO FOOD on the production floor of their facility - now, that is a very common change in policy for a myriad of manufacturers. Part of the reason is to reduce any sort of product sabotage - the more "foreign" materials allowed on a production floor, the more chance of someone inserting a tuna fish sandwich into the sidewall of a freezer compartment, etc. Also, how exactly does a manufacturing company handle an OSHA inspection when an employee is observed taking his eyes off a moving piece of assembly machiney to tear open the wrapper of his Lil Debbie snack cake?

But what Electrolux didn't foresee was that muslims are special from all other Americans. Yep, they misssed that. You see, during the moongod "religion's" Ramadan holiday, once the muslims have finished their fasting, they must immediately stuff some food down their face and if they happen to be working at a station on the production floor of an Electrolux plant when the secret bell rings for them to eat, well....too bad. Electrolux threatened disciplinary action including termination of employees that violated the "no food" policy and now CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and the muslim employees are protesting this unfair and discriminative company policy.

So, what will happen? Will a company be able to set safety and production standards for its workers or will CAIR be successful in forcing muslim workers to snack away at their work posts while other workers cannot? My money is on Electrolux caving - you sure don't want your freezers to be pegged as "islamophobic" now, do you?

Here's the story from SCTimes (second page of the story available at the link).

Electrolux under criticism from Muslim workers


Freezer manufacturer Electrolux is under criticism by Muslim workers and their advocates for not allowing employees to break fast during Ramadan, the upcoming monthlong religious holiday.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Wednesday issued a statement calling on Electrolux to make accommodations for about 200 Muslim evening-shift workers. In January, the company adopted a policy barring eating on the production floor, CAIR contends.

During Ramadan, which begins this year around Aug. 10, Muslims abstain from food, drink and other pleasures from dawn to sunset, breaking fast immediately when the sun sets, according to a statement from CAIR.

During previous Ramadans, employees could break fast on the production floor with a snack and then take full breaks when scheduled, but the new policy no longer allows this, according to CAIR.

“Electrolux has made it clear that it intends to punish or even fire Muslim employees who are caught with food on the production floor during Ramadan,” the CAIR statement says.

At least two employees have since filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that investigates claims of workplace discrimination, according to Taneeza Islam, CAIR civil rights director.

Employers are mandated to accommodate religious practices unless “undue hardship” from those accommodations can be proved.

Electrolux released a statement saying it will develop “a different solution that reasonably accommodates its employees’ religious beliefs without jeopardizing their safety or the plant’s operating needs.”

Company spokesman Tony Evans said he could not elaborate on this solution. He also didn’t discuss a timeline of when this would take place.

The plan will be presented to the union representing St. Cloud production employees and finalized this week. The union was not aware of the company’s proposed solution Wednesday.

New policy

Electrolux workers Ahmed Said and Abdikani Dirie showed the Times a document that says the new policy was created in response to “customer quality concerns,” but they didn’t get a more clear explanation beyond that.