(Oct. 7) 34 Muslim shuttle-bus drivers in the Seattle, WA area have been indefinately suspended by their employer, the Hertz Rent-A-Car company. The drivers, all Somali-born Muslims, were suspended on Sept. 30 for taking taking long prayer breaks without clocking out first.
From the Los Angeles Times:
In a statement sent to The Times, a Hertz spokesperson wrote: "While the employees, all Muslims, were using the breaks for prayers, the breaks were typically extended long beyond the time necessary to complete religious obligations, which is why the company, to be fair to all of its employees in Seattle, implemented the clocking requirement."The company said employees were warned in person and in writing that if they did not comply with the clocking rules, they would be suspended.
The Teamsters Union, which represents the drivers, has taken up the cause and earlier this week there were demonstrators outside the Seattle Hertz office carrying signs with slogans like "Hertz hurts my faith" and "Hertz: Respect me. Respect my religion."
Not all the Muslims working at that office were suspended and, according to Rich Broome, the company's spokesman, the issue had less to do with prayer than with employees who were overstaying their break time.
From the Seattle Times:
Broome said it's not about pay — break time is paid time — but to ensure that workers were staying within the 10-minute time slots, which has been a problem.
And from Reuters:
"Several of our Muslim employees at the Seattle airport are complying and are not affected by the disciplinary action, which undercuts the false contention that this issue is related to prayer or religion," Broome said.
Some Muslim employees, however, are saying that their prayers have been an issue at Hertz for a long time. Maryan Muse, a five-year Hertz employee, is quoted in a statement issued by the union, as saying that Hertz managers made fun of her and her Muslim colleagues as they prayed (LA Times). Zainab Aweis, a three-year Hertz employee, told the Seattle Times that when she and six other Muslim women came to work on Sept. 30, they were told they would be suspended if they prayed. They prayed anyway and Aweis said managers "stood over them taunting and disrupting them" before they were sent home.
The Teamsters Union has has filed an unfair-labor-practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Hertz on behalf of the suspended drivers and both sides are still negotiating.
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