Photo by New York Taxi Workers Alliance
Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the U.S., with an estimated 8 million Muslim-Americans projected by 2050. Muslims have long been part of American history, especially within African American communities. Today, Muslim Americans are racially, ethnically, and nationally diverse—and face significant economic hardship and workplace discrimination. According to the Pew Research Center, they are three times more likely to be unemployed and more likely to earn under $30,000 annually than the general population. Despite these challenges, Muslim Americans are politically engaged and active in community issues. Their experiences make them a key group for labor and community organizing.
In my recent law review article, Muslim American Workers, Faith and Labor Organizing, I argue—through three case studies—that the labor movement must do more to engage this growing faith community and adopt a faith justice approach. This approach links faith and justice to build collective power and improve conditions for all workers, not just Muslims. Historical movements like the Civil Rights Movement and the Poor People’s Campaign show how faith can unify rather than divide. In contrast, conservative religious movements have often used faith to weaken labor and anti-discrimination protections. Without a collective organizing context, religious identity is reduced to an individual rights issue, increasing the risk of workplace divisions. My article includes a brief history of Muslim Americans in the labor movement, two case studies where Muslim workers turned religious accommodation issues into broader labor wins, and one example where a union’s failure to act—due to Islamophobic bias—led to a missed opportunity. In short, labor organizations should prioritize organizing Muslim-majority workforces as part of building a more inclusive, multi-racial, and faith-just labor movement.
Muslim-American Contributions to the US Labor Movement
Muslims in America have also long been active in movements for social justice, but their contributions have not always been recognized. Rarely is the Muslim American community discussed in the context of socio-economic rights, as part of the American working class, or as key contributors and agents in the labor and broader social movements. Religious scholar Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur Rashid recounts one of the early Muslim American labor movement organizers Sufi Abdul Hamid. Imam Rashid recounts how Sufi Abdul Hamid would mobilize Black workers and boycott businesses to compel employers to hire Muslim-Americans not unlike the tactics used by the labor movement. Syrian Muslims were active in the Farmers Union in North Dakota. In addition, in the1970s, Yemeni Muslim Farmworkers organized with Cesar Chavez. Arab and Muslim auto workers organized as part of the UAW. Unions and labor organizations such a UNITE HERE Local 100 and DC37 have Muslims in their leadership and staff. Muslims disproportionately work in industries that are low-wage, abusive and pose challenges to worker organizing. More historical research is needed to uncover key contributions of Muslim Americans in labor.
Muslim-American Workers Leading Labor Wins
In the longer article, I highlight three examples where Muslim American workers led or played central roles in successful labor organizing: (1) New York Taxi Workers Alliance (“NYTWA”) Post 9-11 Organizing and the 2016 Airport Strike against Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban; (2) Awood Center in Minnesota organizing Somali Muslim Amazon workers; and (3) Teamsters Local 117 advocacy for Muslim majority Hertz airport drivers. Notably, two of the three efforts were led by worker centers. Worker centers often serve Black, immigrant, and Muslim workers who are concentrated in sectors excluded from labor protections or overlooked by traditional unions. These organizations provide an essential platform for marginalized workers whose needs often go unmet under mainstream business unionism. This section focuses on the Awood Center, Teamsters Local 117, and a contrasting case where Teamsters Local 455 failed to defend its Muslim members. In both successful examples, workers and organizers transformed what began as religious accommodation issues—such as access to prayer breaks—into broader campaigns for workplace justice benefiting all workers. This is the kind of strategic, faith-based, multiracial organizing I advocate.
Awood Center and Amazon Workers
"East African worker protest against Amazon" by Fibonacci Blue, CC BY 2.0
The Awood Center in Minneapolis is a nonprofit that builds East African worker power. It was one of the first groups to organize Amazon workers. Awood estimates that 60% of Amazon’s 3,000 local workers are East African. The center began outreach in 2017 and has since organized broadly across Amazon facilities. In 2018, Somali Muslim workers at a Minneapolis warehouse began organizing to protest poor working conditions, including grueling productivity quotas. In March 2019, about 50 night-shift workers walked off the job for three hours, demanding more reasonable work expectations and religious accommodations during Ramadan, such as prayer breaks and access to prayer rooms. While Amazon tried to frame the issue as solely about religion, Awood used the conflict to spotlight broader problems with quotas and workplace pressure. Their efforts helped shift the conversation from a narrow faith-based concern to a systemic workplace issue. This organizing led to the passage of the Warehouse Worker Protection Act—the strongest law of its kind in the U.S. It bans employers from imposing quotas that prevent workers from taking bathroom, food, rest, or prayer breaks.
Teamsters Local 117 and Muslim Hertz Drivers
Teamsters Local 117 represents nearly 80 Hertz drivers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport—70% of whom are Muslim. When Hertz fired 25 Somali Muslim drivers for refusing to clock out during prayer breaks, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB and a religious discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Hertz had unilaterally implemented a policy requiring all breaks, including prayer, to be off the clock—violating the collective bargaining agreement, which allowed on-the-clock mini-breaks for activities like smoking or praying. The employer was targeting Muslim workers in a ploy to subvert a work rule negotiated by the union.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in favor of the union and an arbitrator confirmed that prayer during mini breaks did not require clocking out. The arbitrator also faulted management for failing to accommodate a diverse workforce and fostering a hostile environment. He wrote
The complex issue apparent in this case is the failure to address an ever-changing culturally, socially diverse workforce and its environment. These changes and inherent challenges require education and training for management, so everyone is aware of the changing workplace and is sensitive to those changes.
The Local 117 example demonstrates how union organizers can directly address concerns of Muslim-American workers as employees in a collective through the NLRB process and as individual workers through anti-discrimination laws. It also shows how the collective bargaining process can be leveraged for Muslim-American workers and all workers to address working conditions. Later, when the union organized a Fight for 15 ballot initiative, it registered 900 new voters, mostly new immigrants. The ballot initiative was won by 77 votes. The prior advocacy for Muslim workers seemingly helped the Fight for 15 ballot effort to succeed.
A Missed Organizing Opportunity: Teamsters Local 455 and Cargill Workers
In contrast, Teamsters Local 455 failed to support 150 Somali Muslim workers fired from a Cargill meatpacking plant in Colorado after being denied prayer breaks. These workers, who made up over 25% of the plant’s 2,100-person workforce, walked off the job in protest. The union did not file grievances or defend their rights. With support from the Muslim civil rights organization CAIR, the workers filed civil rights complaints against both Cargill and the union. The EEOC found that the Teamsters had a pattern of failing to represent Black, Somali, and Muslim workers, especially on religious accommodation issues. Unlike Local 117, Local 455 did not challenge the sudden work rule or advocate for reinstatement. Their inaction cost 150 jobs and eroded trust among immigrant Muslim workers—people who had shown they were ready to organize and take collective action. Conclusion: Organizing Muslim American Matter in Labor
Unions’ reluctance to engage with workers’ social identities—such as race, ethnicity, and faith—has hindered efforts to build a strong, multiracial labor movement. Faith plays a powerful role in workers’ lives. While unions often fear that emphasizing identity may fracture solidarity, ignoring it can deepen divisions and allow employers to exploit differences. It can also prevent workers from learning about each other which is crucial for organizing.
Conservative religious movements have successfully used faith to weaken labor protections, as seen in the Janus decision. In contrast, faith traditions like liberation theology view unions as having a prophetic role to defend the vulnerable. Islam too shares a strong value to stand up for workers and justice.
Recognizing worker identities such as faith or race can raise political consciousness and foster deeper solidarity. Muslim Americans—who are ethnically and racially diverse yet often united by shared values rooted in Islam—offer a unique opportunity to build inclusive, faith-rooted, multiracial labor organizing.
