Thursday, June 2, 2011
TYSON FOODS ELIMINATES LABOR DAY IN FAVOR OF MUSLIM HOLIDAY
Tyson Food in Shelbyville , Tennessee has eliminated Labor Day as a paid holiday in favor of the last day of Ramadan because they have 700 Muslim employees. The fact that they have almost that many non-Muslim employees is beside the point apparently! You have to make up your minds on this, but it appears to me to non-American.
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Apparently you don't check your facts. Tyson has only made this change at one plant and that change was a part of a NEGOTIATED contract with the labour union at that plant. The workers VOTED on it. So now you are saying that the employees should have no say??? Next time check your facts: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/tyson.asp
ReplyDeleteOh, and you'll be happy to know, they reinstated Labor Day and gave the Muslim employees a "personal" holiday for the last day of Ramadan (known as Eid al-Fitr). But the original decision was based on an affirmative vote of 80% of the rank and file.....
ReplyDeleteMy question is why would this even be negotiable? The fact that management even caved in to put it to a vote indicates to me there management team doesn't have any balls.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are dealing with unions it pays to cave from time to time. By virtue of the fact that 80% of the employees voted for this, I think it was a wise move. Even wiser was reinstating Labor Day and letting the Muslim employees have their day too. Why is it such a problem to be compassionate to your employees? Eid al-Fitr is a VERY big deal to practicing Muslims. Heck, I worked for a doctor who was a convert to Catholicism (his wife is Lebanese Catholic, he is Palestinian). Even though he attended church every Sunday and raised his 3 sons in the Catholic church, he still observed Ramadan....it was so important to him that he continued to do so even after being diagnosed with diabetes (which would allow him to not follow the fasting ritual). Employers work around the religious needs of Jews so why not Muslims??
ReplyDeleteWell I will agree with you, to a point. They at least gave labor day back, which is a long standing non-religious holiday, but a tribute to the working man. My father was a Union member dating to the 1930's. The unions were necessary back then and kept food on the table for many families during the depression. What I would have done is simply to give the various the employees there choice of religious holidays. For example Christians might want Christmas. Muslims might want want the last day of Ramadan. As an HR Consultant, I find many companies refuse to be flexible and bring the problems on themselves. Check out www.thehatchetcreek.net
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