Olympic Sponsor Tyson Foods Swaps Labor Day for Islamic Holiday
Shelbyville Tyson Foods Workers Mad at Company, Fail to Blame Union
Tyson Foods in Olympic News
Tyson Foods is a sponsor of the United States Olympic Team and also features prominently on the menu of those touring to China in pursuit of Olympic gold. Market Watch reported on Friday that 1984 Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Rhetton would be the face of Tyson Food's Olympic efforts in 2008.
The marketing angle is undeniable: meat is a premier source of protein, athletes rely on protein to build muscle, and by sponsoring the Olympic Team it does not take a genius to connect the dots between winning athletes and Tyson's meat products.
Tennessee Tyson Foods Nixes Labor Day Holiday In Favor Of Ramadan
In spite of the all-American image Tyson Foods is portraying with its Olympic efforts, tempers are flaring in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The Voice of Clarksville reported on August 3rd that 1,200 of Tyson Foods workers will not receive the day off with pay on Labor Day, and instead the company and the union agreed to a five year contract that would benefit the 700 Muslim employees who would prefer to receive Eid ul-Fitr off, the end of Ramadan.
Mind you, there is only about a month of difference between Labor Day and the end of Ramadan, and all workers will receive the same number of paid days off as before, but to traditional Shelbyville workers this is leaving a sour taste in their mouths that not even the succulent Tyson Foods meats can assuage. Since the contract was arrived at by a union majority vote, Tyson Food simply decided to go along with the request of the majority, or so it would have you believe. Non-union workers still will get Labor Day off.
A Deeper Look at the Tyson Foods Holiday Controversy
Eid ul-Fitr is a religious holiday observed by Muslims. Labor Day is a secular federal holiday that was instituted as a well deserved day off for laborers. It is firmly entrenched in the American culture as the day of the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon hosted by Jerry Lewis, NASCAR races, and the Taste of Polonia.
Even as Tyson Foods is held responsible by Shelbyville's rural community for this unprecedented step, it is the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that has forced the change at the behest of its spiritually minded majority workers. Of course, one might ask why Tyson Foods so readily rolled over and did away with a federally mandated paid day off in favor of a spiritual holiday.
The other question that bears answering is whether Christian, Jewish and perhaps Wiccan workers could also be afforded special privileges with respect to paid times off. If one might believe the union, this will not happen until they are in the majority. This brings up the final question: is the union representing all of its workers or is it simply a majority rule outfit that will change with the wind and force upon the minority the rule of the majority?
Source:
http://www.marketwatch.com/
http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/
Published by Sylvia Cochran - Featured Contributor in Automotive, Politics, Travel and Lifestyle
Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing -- full-time -- since 2005. SEO-optimized Internet copy includes news analysis, political Op/Ed and parenting as well as a... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentPoor Guy, you say "immigrants of 2008 are not too different from the immigrants of the 18th century... ". Actually that is not entirely true. In the early days, immigrants sought to melt in the melting pot.
Last time I checked, Tyson foods do not cater halal foods for the Muslim Americans. I don't think they care that much about Islam or the Muslims in this country, the paid Islamic holiday was nothing but an administrative issue, and I hope that those who plan to stop buying Tyson foods can see that. On the other hand, we claim to be living in a free country, or not every one is free, really?
Holy molly, the minute someone mentions Islam or Islamic bla bla bla, or someone talks about the Muslims, the ego problem seem to be a lingering one. If Tyson foods, an American Company that respects the majority rule as an organizational principle, and therefore they pass a rule that satisfy a number of people, regardless of their faith, then it's just an administrative issue that has nothing to do with Islam, Muslims, or the Islamic values. But, one needs to be fully open-minded to see things the way things are planned, without getting frantic every time a Muslim gets some thing. We need to realize some fact here; this is a nation of immigrants, and immigrants of 2008 are not too different from the immigrants of the 18th century... the only people who didn't immigrate to this country are the ones who live in reservations, did we forget that?
Great Article~!
Shebeeinks, Labor Day is a secular holiday whereas Eid ul-Fitr is a religious holiday. Christmas is a secular festivity, and not a religious holiday anymore. Company Christmas parties are now called Holiday parties, and all Christian imagery is avoided.
I hope that there are enough Muslims to start buying there product because I will surely never buy from them again and will advise friends and family not to purchase their products. Let the management buy a prayer rug and pray to Allah for a return of the many customers the company will surely lose. I am willing to bet that there is no Christian chapel at the plant but certainly there is a prayer room for the Muslims.
Yes, we do welcome other people into this country but they must assimilate to our values and traditions. All of our immigrant forefathers assimilated and this should be what we expect of new immigrants. We cannot continue to appease every minorty group with an ax to grind. If you don't like it try going to a muslim country and ask them for a Christmas holiday. They would take that ax and well...you know. The liberals in this country are destroying it and we are not going to put up with it anymore. When was the last time the ACLU or the Unions fought for a Christian?
Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't Tyson Foods have Christmas Day as a paid holiday? Almost every other places of employment does. So what really would be the difference here? Other than Christmas is a "Christian" holiday and there for more American than Eid ul-Fitr because it is Muslim.
If the union in Shelbyville voted and agreed to the change in paid holidays, I don't see a problem. After all isn't that one of the things a union does, protect the majority's wishes? It would be anti-union on Tyson behalf if they didn't follow though with the unions voters.
no more tyson chicken for me...Perdue thanks you!