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OldDog/NewTricks

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Location
The Dam End of Silicon Valley
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!

I will no longer purchase any Tyson products. It's just one more little chunk of America that's been bitten off. If you wish to join me, then let your e-mail friends know this. If we don't stand up for something we will fall for anything.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

snopes.com
1. snopes.com: Tyson Foods Muslim Holiday ••••
Employees of a Tyson Foods plant in Tennessee will be given a paid day off for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
...a Tyson Foods plant in Tennessee will be given a paid day off for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. ...drops Labor Day holiday for Eid al-Fitr You can bet that this action by Tyson is only the begining to removing more of the holidays and other symbols...
...Times-Gazette reported that workers at the local Tyson Foods' poultry processing plant would no longer have a paid day off on...
Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:41:03 GMT http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/tyson.asp

2. snopes.com: Where's the Outrage - Alisa Wilson •••
Letter to the 'Wall Steet Journal' responds to a 'Where's the Outrage?' editorial?
...Food Glurge Gallery History Holidays Horrors Humor Inboxer Rebellion Language Legal Lost Legends Love Luck Media Matters...
...from Muslims. Just this week, Tyson's Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day. What am I...
...am I missing? Yes, there is a large Somali Muslim population working at the Tyson's plant in Tennessee . Tennessee , last I checked, is still part of the...
Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:47:06 GMT http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/outrage.asp
 
This may be true, but then again it may not. I'd want some hard facts to prove they were really going to take off. Sounds like a ploy to get people to turn away from Tyson. Animal activist hate Tyson and have no ethics about lying or atleast stretching the truth.
No, I have no affliation with Tyson.

edited
Just went back and read it again. Are they dropping labor day or just giving muslims a choice between the two. I have a hard time believing they ever shut down for labor day or any other holiday except maybe Christmas. I think the Tyson plant 10 miles from me runs 365 days a year to some degree anyways.
 
Has to be true- because FAUXNEWS says so:

Tyson Plant Drops Labor Day for Muslim Holiday
Tuesday, August 05, 2008


Print ShareThisSHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — Workers at a Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Tennessee have opted to trade a paid Labor Day holiday for the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr.

A 5-year contract approved by members of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union at the Shelbyville, Tenn., plant last November includes the change to accommodate Muslim workers.

"The negotiating committee made the holiday a top priority in contract talks," the union's Alabama and Mid-South Council Representative Randy Hadley said in a statement issued in June. "And we were able to get management to commit to it."

The change, which does not affect the company's 118 other plants, exchanges Labor Day for the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The new contract, negotiated last fall, also gives Muslim workers a prayer room.

"Eid al-Fitr is one of eight paid holidays for all team members covered by the contract, while Labor Day is not a paid holiday," Gary Mickelson, Tyson's media relations director, told the Shelbyville Times-Gazette.

But Tyson spokeswoman Libby Lawson told FOXNews.com that employees who are not a member of the union at that plant would still be eligible for Labor Day as a paid holiday.

The seven additional paid holidays are the employee's birthday, New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, Mickelson said.

"Given the nature of our work, many, many, many times we have to work holidays anyway, and Labor Day is usually one of those holidays that our workers have to work," Lawson said. "And, of course, they are paid holiday pay when they have to work any holiday that is recognized at our facility."

Tyson officials said that approximately 250 of the plant's 1,200 employees are Somalis who entered the United States as political refugees. Most, if not all, are believed to be Muslim — among them, Abdillahi Jama.

"This new contract is good because it allows me to work on the second shift and still pray when I need to," Jama said in the union's press release. "It's very important to us, and the Eid is one of our most sacred holidays. It shows how the union helps us."

VideoPoultry Protest
Lawson said that the Shelbyville plant is one of a handful that have designated prayer areas that can be used by groups of all faiths.

News of the holiday change has prompted some anger on local Web message boards, with some writings urging readers to contact the AFL-CIO and boycott Tyson products.

The union's national president, Stuart Appelbaum, said it is the union's job "to stand up to win respect for every worker's right to practice their faith."

Tyson officials said the contract was agreed to by 80 percent of the union's 1,000 members at the plant.

This year Eid al-Fitr falls on Oct. 1.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,397645,00.html
Click to expand...


But it appears Tyson sorta reversed their decision- and gave the employees a "choice" day-- Personal Holiday...
Tyson Reverses Labor Day/Muslim Holiday Decision
By Noel Sheppard | August 08, 2008 | 10:34


Responding to pressure from consumers around the country as well as its own staff, Tyson Foods has reversed its decision to allow Muslim employees to take a religious day off instead of the federal holiday of Labor Day.

As NewsBusters reported Sunday, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) had recently announced this as part of a new negotiated contract with Tyson employees at its Shelbyville, Tennessee, plant.

However, as the New York Times reported Tuesday, the company came under a lot of pressure from angry consumers following this announcement, and on Friday issued the following press release (h/t NBer SickofLibs, photo courtesy NYSE):

August 8, 2008 - Tyson Foods, Inc. announced today it has reached a new agreement with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), an American union, reinstating Labor Day as one of the designated paid holidays under the contract for covered employees in the Shelbyville, Tennessee, plant.


Tyson made this request on behalf of its Shelbyville plant employees, some of whom had expressed concern about the new contract provisions relative to paid holidays. In an effort to be responsive, Tyson asked the union to reopen the contract to address the holiday issue, and the union agreed to do so. The union membership voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reinstate Labor Day as one of the plant's paid holidays, while keeping Eid al-Fitr as an additional paid holiday for this year only. This means that in 2008 only, Shelbyville employees will have nine paid holidays.

For the remainder of the five-year contract period, the eight paid holidays will include: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and a Personal Holiday, which could either be the employee's birthday, Eid al-Fitr or another day requested and approved by their supervisor.


Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/08/08/tyson-reverses-labor-day-muslim-holiday-decision#ixzz1HNSdgn40
Click to expand...
 

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