Somalier ersätter latinos som arbetare i USA

The New York Times har publicerat en lång artikel om den somaliska flyktinggruppen i USA. Artikeln innehåller flera intressanta aspekter.

För det första har USA:s tuffare inställning till illegala invandrare, ofta från Latinamerika, lett till att många stora arbetsplatser saknar "okvalificerad" arbetskraft. Efter att de illegala invandrarna deporterats har somalier fyllt deras platser, framförallt på stora slakterier.

Inflyttningen av somalier har lett till stora motsättningar mellan tidigare invandrargrupper och somalierna. Motsättningarna bygger ofta på religiös grund. Arbetsgivarna behöver de somaliska arbetarna. Somalierna kräver att arbetsplatserna anpassas till deras religion, t.ex. raster för bönestunder och hänsyn till ramadan. Kraven på anpassning till religion leder sedan till konflikter med övriga arbetare.

Early last month, about 220 Somali Muslims walked off the job at a JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colo., saying the company had prevented them from observing their prayer schedule. (More than 100 of the workers were later fired.)

Days later, a poultry company in Minnesota agreed to allow Muslim workers prayer breaks and the right to refuse handling pork products, settling a lawsuit filed by nine Somali workers.

In August, the management of a Tyson chicken plant in Shelbyville, Tenn., designated a Muslim holy day as a paid holiday, acceding to a demand by Somali workers. The plant had originally agreed to substitute the Muslim holy day for Labor Day, but reinstated Labor Day after a barrage of criticism from non-Muslims.

The new tensions here extend well beyond the walls of the plant. Scratch beneath Grand Island’s surface and there is resentment, discomfort and mistrust everywhere, some residents say — between the white community and the various immigrant communities; between the older immigrant communities, like the Latinos, and the newer ones, namely the Somalis and the Sudanese, another refugee community that has grown here in recent years; and between the Somalis, who are largely Muslim, and the Sudanese, who are largely Christian.

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