Greeley, CO Update: Somali community organizers meet with city officials
Posted by acorcoran on October 14, 2008
Things appear to have been quiet in Greeley, Co since all the hubbub over Somalis being fired at the Swift meatpacking plant a few weeks ago. I previously surmised it was because CAIR is involved and a lawsuit is in the works.
Here is a story from a few days ago reporting that Somali community organizers are meeting with town officials to be sure “what happened at Swift doesn’t happen again.” Hat tip: Blulitespecial. So what does that mean? What does the town have to do with a labor/management issue. It looks to me like the Somalis are expecting some sort of special treatment.
The Tribune article begins:
A group of East African residents has begun monthly meetings with Greeley leaders following last month’s dispute about prayer breaks at JBS Swift & Co., and subsequent firing of about 120 Muslim workers.
Five members of the East African Community Council met with social service representatives, Realizing Our Community and Greeley Mayor Ed Clark earlier this week. The next meeting is planned for Nov. 3 at the Greeley Recreation Center.
Members of the East African Council, some of whom tried to mediate the dispute between JBS Swift and the Muslim workers, on Monday gathered information about local education, social service and employment options for the local East African community.
The point of the dialogue with city leaders, said council member Graen Isse, is “so what happened at Swift won’t happen again.”
About 16 of the fired workers got their jobs back at JBS Swift, Isse said, while another 20 found employment elsewhere in town. About 50 to 60 in the group are still looking for work, he said, and they are generally looking for assembly or cleaning jobs where they don’t have to speak English.
Yes, no sense knocking yourselves out learning English.
The article is pretty ho-hum but check out the comments, they are pretty lively. One commenter asked if the meetings are open to the public. I assume Colorado has an open government law where meetings involving elected officials are open, and those of you who want to attend should just attend!
For readers trying to catch up on this story we have an entire category on it here.
blulitespecial said
I think the city can send a representative(like an HR employee),to these meetings,but the open meetings law kicks in pretty quick.I could be wrong,but it seems if two commissioners attend,it’s a violation and should open to the public.I don’t think one is allowed to attend and even email another commissioner while there.And I’d be pretty PO’d if the City came back and told me how to run my business.At the same time JB Swift will use these meetings to their advantage to engage in union-busting to keep wages,benefits,and workers rights under the law as low as possible.Don’t be surprised if the result of all this is lowering the bar across the board for everyone in the plant.Worse conditions,odd production hours to allow for muslim prayer times,and having to be in the plant in full gear ready to work for 9 to 10 hours to get paid for 8.
This deserves a Federal investigation for labor law violations,and should include the possibility of racketeering violations on the part of the East African Council,CAIR,and Realizing Our Community.
jane said
There are no comments associated with the article now (Wed. 8:45 am EDT). Have they possibly been scrubbed?
acorcoran said
Hi Jane, Try this link http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20081011/NEWS/110119994&parentprofile=search
They seem to be up now, because I see that Blulitespecial has a comment there now!
acorcoran said
I don’t know why wordpress does that once in awhile and I’m not tech savvy enough to figure out why that happens!