Nearly 200 Muslim workers at a Colorado meatpacking plant have lost their jobs after they walked out on their company 10 days ago during a workplace prayer dispute.
Employees at Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan, Colorado, previously prayed during a special 15-minute break period or during their 30-minute lunch breaks, according to the Denver Post. The company even had a prayer room for them to use.
Then the company implemented a policy that requires those who want to pray during company time to go home to do so.
More than 200 employees walked out in protest as an attempt to sway the company. Some returned later, but the majority did not.
The 190 employees who were holding out were fired Tuesday as the Council for American-Islamic Relations negotiated on their behalf.
"They feel missing their prayer is worse than losing their job," Jaylani Hussein of CAIR said to the Post. "It's like losing a blessing from God."
The fired employees want to work but also want the ability to pray at their workplace, but Cargill has a policy which requires fired employees to wait six months before they can apply for jobs at the company again.
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