Last years some muslim workers, who chose to adhere strictly to Ramadan, felt ill because of the heat and the hard work of hand-harvesting melons - some of them died of dishydratation and heatshock while working. And next year the problem will be even worse, since Ramadan will fall earlier in the summer.
So the local farmers' commitee (Coldiretti) is willing to enforce, out of safety concerns, drinking during the day also for muslim workers - on pain of being fired for the workers who don't comply.
The local muslim community, though, protests against the mandatory breaking of the Ramadan rules - they do not object to workers drinking to avoid heatshocks, but they say every muslim should decide freely whether to break Ramadan or to adhere strictly.
Of course, if drinking is mandatory we can be sure that muslim workers would drink - while, if not made mandatory, some of the most strict followers could be tempted to push themselves over the limit to avoid breaking the religious rules, and thus risk their own lives.
I think it's an interesting issue. (Oh, and by the way, I think that working by night would be impossible because it would be impossible to provide enough lighting).
http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2009/08/italy-farm-workers-must-drink-during.html
excerpt from link above wrote:Muslim farmhands in Mantua who refuse to drink water ''will be temporarily suspended from work and if they repeat the infraction, they will be fired,'' the committee said. Committee President Roberto Cagliari, who also leads the Mantua chapter of agricultural organisation Coldiretti, said the decision had been taken in order to protect workers in the province's tomato and melon fields. ''We made the order because we want to safeguard the health of our workers as much as possible,'' he said. ''The refusal to drink water on the part of various farmhands in melon fields during Ramadan last year created considerable problems''.
But a representative of the Mantuan Islamic community, Ben Mansour, said the order was illegal and unnecessary. ''There is no work contract and no legal provision requiring us to drink during Ramadan and if any Muslim worker is fired for this, then we will contest it,'' he said. ''If a Muslim farmhand feels unwell, he can take a break and if he then realises that the feeling is not a passing one, he may take a drink. ''But that is his own decision and no one else should be able to force that on him''.
I'm thinking that the mandatory drinking is a good idea, because safety concerns for workers trump religious traditions, but still, meh. So what do you think?
