Tyson Foods Says Muslim Holiday Observed Only In Shelbyville Plant

PRESS RELEASE

Labor Day Still Recognized at Tyson Foods; Union Contract Provision only at Shelbyville, TN Plant

Springdale, Arkansas – August 4, 2008 – Contrary to recent reports, Labor Day is still a holiday at Tyson Foods. This issue concerns only the plant at Shelbyville, TN. The majority of employees at the Tyson plant in Shelbyville, TN, are represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union (RWDSU), an American union that asked for and received Eid al-Fitr, as one of their eight paid holidays, in place of Labor Day. This applies only to the Shelbyville plant and resulted as part of the union contract negotiated last fall. This change does not apply to Tyson Foods' other 118 plants. This is not a religious accommodation, rather, it is part of a union-initiated contract demand.

This change came about as a result of union demands brought to the negotiating table, and was agreed upon by Tyson in an effort to reach a contractual agreement with the union. The contract that calls for this change was unanimously recommended by the 12-person union bargaining committee, which included three Somali employees. The contract was then overwhelmingly agreed to by 80 percent of the rank and file membership of the union at the Shelbyville plant.

The Muslim population at the Shelbyville plant is primarily composed of approximately 250 Somali employees, who are political refugees, most of whom came to the plant as a result of refugee resettlement efforts based in Nashville. They were employed at the plant through the Tennessee Department of Employment Security office.

The Shelbyville complex employs approximately 1,200 people. Approximately 1,000 workers are covered by the union agreement at Shelbyville.

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Contact: Libby Lawson, Tyson Foods, Inc.

(479) 290-3486

libby.lawson@tyson.com

Commentary

Somebody must be working overtime in the PR Dept at Tyson Foods for me to receive that in my private email account...not the buffer I have on this blog. Somebody actually did their homework.


Not Impressed


Needless to say, I am not impressed. Nor will I be purchasing any Tyson Foods products because of this policy. What happens in one plant can spread to another. The religious accommodations granted (Holidays, Extra Time and Space for Prayer) to that union will be demanded by others, and what will you do if they demand the replacement of Christmas with Ramadan?


Your Fate


I have worked in a place where extra break time was given to Muslims for their prayer time, and the whole afternoon on Fridays...and extra time off for prayers during the month-long Ramadan Observation. The company tried to make it up to those of us who weren't Muslim by offering candy and bonuses like good little Dhimmis.They also quit decorating for Christmas because the Muslims declared those decorations to be of an offensive nature to them. Many of us of other religions left because our beliefs were not accorded the same respect, and I understand that the location is almost entirely Muslim now, and that it shuts down at noon on Fridays because there is no one to man the machines. That will be your fate.

Farewell

I have enjoyed your products over the years. Get back to me when you correct your error or kick that union out of your plant. If your non-Muslim employees had any sense, they would leave too, before they had to begin paying the Jizyah tax for not being a Muslim.



Previously:

Tyson's Foods Drops Labor Day Holiday;
Replaces it with Muslim Holiday Eid al-Fitr