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Article: Tyson Foods Accepts Eid al-Fitr as Holiday
- Article from:
- Islamic Horizons
- Article date:
- November 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Islamic Society of North America Nov/Dec 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Eid al-Fitr has been accepted as one of die eight paid holidays at the Tyson Foods poultry plant in Shelbyville, TN. It was initially accepted as a. substitute for Labor Day at the behest of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. The new schedule favors the plant's Muslim workers, who account for hundreds of its 1,200 employees. Last year, nearly all Somali workers took die day off. They were not paid, but the plant almost had to close down that day. Management thus welcomed the proposal to make Eid a holiday.
Union president Stuart Appelbaum, who also serves as president of the Jewish Labor Committee, said the decision was consistent with the spirit of Labor Day: "We in the ...