Tel-Chai Nation

In an update to this story, Hertz has finally fired the Somali Muslim cab drivers who prayed on company time:

The Hertz rental car company is firing two dozen Somali Muslim drivers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for refusing to clock out for daily breaks during which they normally prayed.

The drivers are among the 34 Hertz employees the company suspended indefinitely late last month for praying on company time. Observant Muslims pray five times a day, and the employees claimed the company was infringing on their religious freedom by not being flexible to their needs.

Media reports varied on the exact number of fired employees, with some reporting it was 25 and others reporting it was 26.

The fired workers drove the company’s cars to and from the airport for cleaning and refueling, according to the Seattle Times, and did not clock out when they went to pray. Hertz also said some of the fired workers were taking longer than the 10 minutes allotted for a break. Employees get two breaks per eight-hour shift.

Let us be clear here: prayer is not as important as getting the job done properly, and if the company hired them to run the business efficiently and they didn't, all for the sake of prayer that could be done at home, then they have betrayed/undermined the company they work for and thus were asking for dismissal.

I don't suppose Hertz might be willing to hire some American-born folks to drive their taxis instead, and thus prove wrong what Dubya claimed that Americans don't want to work in these kind of jobs? I'm sure there's plenty of regular Americans who could work these taxi jobs perfectly by contrast.

Labels: islam, United States