6 Comments to 'Muslims deserve a day off, too'
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Muslims deserve a day off, too
Posted By katie allison granju
The county in which I grew up - Bedford County in Middle Tennessee - is home to a large and growing population of Muslim Somali immigrants. Many of them are employed at the local Tyson chicken processing plant.
And I can just imagine the imminent uproar over this just-released story indicating that, in place of the traditional American Labor Day holiday, Tyson will now offer its Muslim workers a day off that falls on one of their holy days.
Once the storm of criticism ensues, I will point out that the holiday switch was apparently implemented as part of a new collective bargaining agreement, negotiated by Tyson’s labor union. So although these Somali immigrants may not actually celebrate Labor Day, they certainly are benefiting from the hard work and advocacy of the organized American labor movement - the movement that Labor Day honors and recognizes.
Unlike a lot of the critics who will gnash their teeth and wail bitterly about what this holiday switcheroo represents for America, I suggest that it’s actually an example of America at its best. I do, however, hope that the immigrant workers who will benefit from the change have some recognition for and appreciation of the sacrifices of the union organizers who came before them, making this new religious holiday from work possible for them.
Aug 1st, 2008
Wrong wrong the muslims do not recognize any of are holidays and refuse do to so. The labor day holiday is a non religious gereric holiday. It is to recognize American hard work and thier spirit. Good grief people quit bending to these peoples every whim they are holding the world hostage.
Katie have you ever been in one of these chicken houses that Tyson contracts out? Good grief…my friend runs two in northeast Mississippi on his farm and the smell is absolutely unbelievable. Its nearly unbearable even with a mask on.
I don’t like this any more than I approve of creeping sharia in my own country, Britain.
Our liberal-minded, tolerant democracies are being taken advantage of. And most of our politicians are turning a blind eye for fear of losing the ethnic vote.
Accept our lands, jobs, social security, healthcare, law, culture and long-standing holidays, religious or not, if you decide to immigrate into a western culture.
If I, a Brit, emigrated to the USA, I would not expect them to adjust their holidays to suit my original land’s culture/religion/history. Nor should others - of ANY religion, political or not.
Let this continue and soon your immigrants will be telling you that they think it’s OK to kill for religion, as they have recently in the UK.
This is a slap in the face to all AMERICAN working citizens. I will no longer purchase any foods processed by Tyson, on behalf of my American working neighbors.
This is pure capitalism, Katie. It means that the Somali workers will be working on the holidays without extra-overtime pay. And the union fell for it!
To the extent that this is a private agreement between a company and its union/employees, I don’t have a problem with it. Were it a government agency, then that would be a whole different issue because then we’re talking about making decisions about how my tax dollars are spent. But if a company wants to accomodate the majority of its workforce by changing its holiday schedule then it absolutely has the right to do so.
On the other hand, if I were one of the non-Muslim employees who just lost my Labor Day BBQ because my union thought that my needs weren’t important you can bet that I’d be banging on the door of my union rep demanding some answers.
In addition, I also support the commenters here who are choosing to boycott Tyson because of this change. Again, we’re talking about private citizens choosing how to spend their hard-earned dollars: if you think that Tyson choosing a Muslim holiday over a traditional American one is improper, then you are definitely within your rights to vote with your wallet by taking your business elsewhere.