The "coming to a town near you" Article of the day!

http://www.theindependent.com/news/x1213267511/Striking-and-misinformation-at-Swift-night-fight-breaks-out

Striking and misinformation at Swift, reports of night fight

A cyber friend sent this article with a comment:

"The Swift plant is a microcosm of the coming America, balkanization and all."

This one tells it all. There's a little culture war going on at the Swift meat packing plant in Grand Island, USA. The newly imported Somali Muslims have DEMANDED and gotten special hours, privilege to practice their religion and culture in the workplace. The rest of the workers lose hours, etc. to please these new refugees and this makes them unhappy. And WHO is the MOST unhappy among them?

ILLEGAL HISPANIC ALIENS!

You have to admit one thing. At least they will stand and fight for what they want, whether they deserve it or not. Most of us won't fight for what is ours.
We could learn a lesson from them.

The entire article is a HOOT! It boggles the mind. And the worst of it, is the Swift Company, knowingly hiring illegal workers. Buy from companies that don't exploit workers and leave US Citizens jobless!

Here are the highlights.

GRAND ISLAND —Day four of strikes at the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Grand Island opened with a majority of A-shift workers (6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) walking off the job Thursday in a continued counterprotest -- and ended with police called to a reported riot in the Swift cafeteria.

Reports Thursday night from workers at the scene indicated that a fight broke out between about 20 to 30 Somalian and Hispanic workers, but that the scuffle was under control in less than half an hour. A police team was called to Swift about 9 p.m. and entered the building. Shortly after, a group of Somalian workers were seen exiting Swift from north side doors and heading toward the parking lots.

Veronica Yebra said the numbers were down because most protesting A-shift workers were being blocked from leaving the plant building after clocking in.

"They are in the cafeteria," Yebra said. "The green hats (management) and supervisors are blocking the doors."

B-shift protester Jose Amya said he and fellow strikers on Wednesday were threatened by Swift management.

"They told the illegal immigrants they don't have the right to express their opinion," Amya said. "A superintendent told people who don't have documents that they don't have a right to express their opinion or they will be fired."

Amya said he knows there are undocumented workers at the plant and so do company officials. Swift was raided on Dec. 12, 2006, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, who arrested 252 Swift workers. Thirty-three were charged with using false documents to get a job at Swift.

Amya said striking B-shift workers Wednesday were also told that 300 scabs -- workers willing to cross a picket line -- from Texas and Florida would be brought in if the workers didn't return to their lines.

"They told us everybody outside the building will be fired," Yebra said from outside the plant Thursday morning.

Human resources spokeswoman Mary Chmelka approached the Swift fence and spoke to B-shift protesters gathered outside the plant on Thursday.

"I suggest you get a representative from every culture," she said, issuing an invitation to a 2 p.m. Thursday sit-down meeting.

Hoppes said no such meeting occurred because counterprotesters refused to meet.

But the counterprotesters did have some demands.

Donato Medina held a hand-written list in Spanish.

It included pay for days on strike, a raise, having equal break times, equal consideration for promotions (longer-term Hispanics allege being bypassed by Somalian workers), having an on-site Health Department representative to tend to workplace injuries, cleaning bathrooms strewn with water and paper, acquiring more parking so shift workers can be on time and being treated with respect as a human being instead of being treated like a machine.

Sudanese protester Gatluak Wuol from the B shift wanted to distinguish his culture as being different from the Muslims from Somalia.

"We have a different religion. I'm Christian," Wuol said. "We support this (the counterprotest) because we need equal rights."

"We respect where they come from -- I'm from someplace else and have a different religion," Hispanic protester Juan Guebara said. "We want equal opportunity to everything. Everybody needs to be together."

"I'm not upset with the Somalians," Yebra said. "It's the company -- the decision. They gave in so easy. We have Hispanics and Vietnamese and Laotians. It affects all of us, and we want the same opportunity for everyone."

"I don't know what happened," Hoppes said. "I think we have problems between races.”

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WHAT happened is idiots like this are in charge! Cultures can't be forced into changing to suit the bottom line of companies like Swift! It's not about RACE...it's about common sense and history!