This is rather startling. We’re used to seeing this kind of stuff happening in Europe, not places like Shelbyville, TN:
Workers at Tyson Foods’ poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day, but will instead take the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the fall.
A recent press release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) stated that a new contract at the Shelbyville facility “implements a new holiday to accommodate the … Muslim workers at the plant.”
The RWDSU stated that “the five-year contract creates an additional paid holiday, Iidal Fitil, a Muslim holiday that occurs toward the end of Ramadan.”
-Snip-
The press release stated there are approximatly 700 Muslims working at Tyson, but Mickelson said that Somalis only represent approximately 250 of the 1,200 employed at the plant, a little over 20 percent of the workforce.
“All Team Members who have completed their probationary period are eligible for all eight paid holidays including Eid al-Fitr,” the Tyson spokeman said.
The union also claimed that in addition to the observance of the Muslim holiday, “two prayer rooms have been created to allow Muslim workers to pray twice a day and return to work without leaving the plant.”
Mickelson said that Shelbyville’s Tyson plant “does have a prayer room to accommodate the needs of Muslim Team Members.”
Other paid holidays at Tyson include:
The Team Member’s birthday, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The comment section at The Shelbyville Times Gazette appears to be 100% appalled by the decision of the plant to replace a Federal holiday with a Muslim one.
Tyson may be facing a major boycott in the near future.
Hat tip Weasel Zippers
UPDATE:
Anyone wondering why there are so many Somalis working at Tyson in TN? Let Atlas Shrugs explain how Refuge Resettlement works.
UPDATE II:
Tyson and the Union have reached a new agreement.
