- The management decided the new prayer policy in September without listening to workers’ feedback opposing it.
- They also installed a camera in the prayer room without informing workers.
A group of more than 60 Muslim workers walked off Macy’s distribution center in Greater Columbus on Friday to protest a ‘discriminatory’ prayer policy.
According to protesters, who work a 12-hour shift that starts at 6 a.m., the new policy requires them to use their half-hour lunch break for prayer. Previously, they were given time to pray three times per shift without using up their break time, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
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“It means either you eat (or) you pray, so this is hard for us,” said Fartun Mohamed, one of the protesting workers.
“We feel disrespected,” Zamzam Ali, another worker, added.
Before Friday, the management allowed Muslims to pray three times, each from 5-7 minutes, per shift.
Managers decided the new prayer policy in September without listening to workers’ feedback opposing it.
“They didn’t give us a chance to (negotiate). They were just like, this is the new policy we have, you have to follow,” she said.
“It bothers us because it’s like they’re not respecting our religion,” said Mustafa Hassan, another worker.
The management also installed a camera in their prayer room without informing workers.
“I’m a Muslim — there’s a reason I keep my head covered. If I knew that there was a camera, I wouldn’t have uncovered my head,” she said, adding that she complained to human resources at the time.
Friday’s protest isn’t the first by Somali workers demanding better work conditions.
Five years ago, a group of Amazon Muslim Somali workers in Minnesota demanded better working conditions in the retailer’s warehouses.