On the clock

Hertz Car Rental had a problem in which their Muslim employees were taking way too much time for their prayer breaks, and as part of a bargaining agreement the Muslims were supposed toclock in and out for their breaks to pray. 34 Muslims took advantage of the situation and never clocked in or out and they were fired. Now, Hertz says that all will be reinstated as long as they use the timeclock for breaks.

We shall see how long this acquiescence to the rules lasts.

From Reuters/Yahoo October 8 by Laura Myers

Hertz: Muslim workers failed to follow break rules

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Hertz rental car company, which was met with protests for suspending 34 Muslim shuttle drivers in Seattle in a dispute over prayer breaks, said it would reinstate the workers if they agreed to clock in and out.

Hertz said the Somali Muslim employees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were suspended not for praying but for failing to clock in and out for 10-minute breaks as required under a collective bargaining agreement.

Self-created victimization.

Washington state law allows employees two 10-minute breaks during an eight-hour shift.

"This issue arose when breaks for prayers were extended for unacceptably long periods beyond 10 minutes for nonreligious activities, Hertz spokesman Richard Broome said in a written statement issued on Friday night.

"Individual warnings were communicated as well as a written warning, both prior to the implementation of disciplinary action," he said.

Workers protested the Seattle airport Hertz location on Wednesday following the suspensions, which Teamsters Local 117, the union representing the Muslim workers, has called discrimination based on religious beliefs.

The union said in a statement released earlier this week that Muslim employees had complained of a hostile work environment toward them and said that, in one instance, a Hertz manager tried to block a group of seven Somali women from accessing a designated prayer room.

"This is an outrageous assault on the rights of these workers and appears to be discriminatory based on their religious beliefs," Tracey Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 117, said in a written release.

Nice try, Thompson but you forget this is not an assault on religious beliefs, although it should be when discussing Islam, this is Muslims in America agitating for more Islam, and concurrently more sharia. You, my deluded frfiend are a good and faithful dhimmi, doing the bidding of your soon-to-be masters.

But Broome, in his statement, said Hertz had accommodated the Muslim workers' prayer schedule for 15 years at the Seattle airport location, creating a space for them to pray.

You will be told by SeaTac administration that the prayer rooms are for everyone, they are multi-spiritual and a Christian can, and should use these locations for their own liturgy. Yeah right, I dare any non-Muslim to go and try to step inside one.

He said Muslim workers at the airport facility had not suspended, Broome said.

"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.