Contracted Muslim Security Guards to March on Amazon

The scheduled protest is ironic, in that Amazon was one of the few companies arguing against the Trump Administration’s temporary immigration ban on refugees from seven Middle East and African countries. The company affirmed its support for Muslims who might be affected by the ban.

The guards and SEIU are alleging discrimination because high-earning tech workers and members of other religions are granted the privilege of using conference rooms for prayer during work hours.

Tom Seitz, co-president and chief financial officer at SIS, emphatically rebuts the claims made by the disaffected guards and union.

Our employees assigned to Amazon have always been permitted to access space (when available) to pray on breaks, even before dedicated prayer rooms were formally introduced.”

Before prayer rooms were introduced, employees generally used a vacant conference room or quiet room, when available. This has been the case for the past four years (since we’ve been at Amazon), and the recent addition of dedicated prayer rooms has just made access even easier. We count ourselves as fortunate that Amazon extends this accommodation to our employees.”

At the core of the dispute is the fact that the SIS guard force is non-union, and SEIU has been trying to get the guards organized. The union asserts that Amazon contracts out its security to avoid a unionized security force.

Essag Hassan, one of the guards involved with the planned protest, alleges he was fired because he requested to pray during his work breaks. He asserts SIS gave no reason for his dismissal and that it was retaliation for him speaking out on the issue.

I’m speaking out for all Muslim security workers and for workers of any religion. When you ask for a space to pray on your work break, that request should be treated with respect.”

SIS has been a target of SEIU and progressive Seattle politicians for some time because of its efforts to keep its work force non-union.

Now the controversy has spilled over to involve Amazon, even though the company has worked with lawmakers and state officials to explore legal options to oppose the Trump immigration order.

Source: Fox News

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