Muslim Holiday Replaces Labor Day
A new union contract between an employer and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union at a plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee, substitutes Eid al-Fetr for Labor Day as a paid holiday. (Click here, here and here.) Eid al-Fetr is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The other paid holidays are an employee’s birthday, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Labor Day had previously been the eighth holiday. The new contract also provides two prayer rooms for Muslim employees. In the admitted effort to accommodate a large Muslim workforce at the Shelbyville plant, the concept of religious accommodation as an employment law principle may have been taken to a new level.
The employer and the union justify this holiday change by saying that Eid al-Fitr “is as important to Muslims as Christmas is to Christians.” Christmas has been a recognized holiday in America for decades if not centuries, and Christmas is as much a secular holiday as a religious one.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires an employer to accommodate, on a case by case basis, an employee’s religious beliefs unless the accommodation causes an undue hardship. The employer and its union may have mandated an accommodation for an entire religion.
So let’s see now. A Catholic wants to take off Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; a Jew, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; a Seventh-day Adventist, every Saturday; a Baha’i, one of the nine Baha’i holy days; a Buddhist, one of the ten or so Buddhist holidays; and a Hindu, one of several Hindu festivals or holidays. (And we’ll avoid, for the time being, requests for a Christian chapel, a miniature Buddhist temple, a Hindu shrine, etc.)
Ordinarily, you see if another employee could swap work days, if a temporary replacement could be hired, if the employee could work through his/her lunch breaks and other breaks to make up the lost time, if the employee could be allowed a day off without pay or a vacation day, or if something else could be worked out between the employer and the employee. If no accommodation can be found, an undue hardship usually exists, and the employee can’t take off the requested religious holiday.
In this situation, none of this may matter at all. Eid al-Fitr is an official holiday–period.
The Catholic, Jew, Seventh-day Adventist, Baha’i, Buddhist, or Hindu says I want the same deal the Muslims have. If you don’t give it to me, you’re guilty of religious discrimination under Title VII. I’m not sure what a court would do in a situation like this, but we may find out if a lawsuit is filed.
Some folks will be irate that at a time when Islamic terrorists are the source of one of America’s greatest fears, a Muslim holiday is being listed along with other traditional holidays–amazingly replacing the holiday that unions have held sacrosanct. While perhaps politically ill-advised, that’s not my focus. My focus is one of employment law, particularly as it relates to religious accommodation.
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Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 5:27 am under
An educated response at last! Reading the TN news blog has been confusing. (Interestingly from Bedford County…wasn’t Bedford Falls the hometown of George Bailey?).
August 6th, 2008 at 7:29 amThis is not the United Nations, this is the United States of America, speak English, fly the American Flag not your own above ours. Celebrate what ever holiday you want, but if Muslims are going to get paid to pray, so should every other religion on this planet living in the USA . The immigration issues in this country are getting totally out of hand. If you come to live in the USA, then you are American or pack your bags and go back to where you came from.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:44 am“wasn’t Bedford Falls the hometown of George Bailey?”
August 6th, 2008 at 8:13 amNo clue where the man was born, raised or who taught him ethics or morals.
The attempt to accommodate immigrants to the USA is stepping way over the lines of the foundation of this country. Christian’s can’t pray in schools, the word God and the word of God is removed from everything, which was the basics this country was founded on. American holidays are discarded to accommodate Muslim Holidays, this is insane. Each religion should celebrate it’s own holiday, but not at the expense of the American Holidays, that set this Nation apart from the rest of the world.
I am totally against this and will not by tyson chicken again. I live in Texas. I will make sure that my company does not open a contract with tyson or by tyson food product again. Watch their stock drop.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:20 amI think Tyson has set a precedent that may come back to bite them. Speaking of which I to have knowingly taken the bite of any Tyson products.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:14 amThis does have the potential for creating more problems than Tyson realizes. Many Christians feel that their rights are being eroded, Christmas has become a mere secular holiday. Stores dictate that clerks must say, “Happy holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”. Local governments no longer allow a creche to be displayed. As mentioned above, God has been kicked out of our schools to the extent students in some districts are not even allowed to carry a Bible. But, we must accomodate one small minority. As others have said, what about other religious groups? Where will it end?
My employer set aside a new holiday recognizing Martin Luther King about 12 years ago. It really didn’t go over that well, even with our minority ee’s, so it morphed into a floating holiday. There were other solutions that Tyson could have used.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:01 pmI came across this interesting article that at least obliquely addresses this issue. It is an essay entitled “Tolerating the Intolerable” and is based on the writings of John Locke. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article727422.ece
The writer is pondering how people with different beliefs can live with one another in peace? Some quotes:
“The world ought to be more tolerant but some things remain intolerable. ”
“This narrowness of spirit on all sides has undoubtedly been the principal occasion of our miseries and confusions. But whatever has been the occasion, it is now high time to seek for a thorough cure. We have need for more generous remedies than have yet been made use of . . . absolute liberty, just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty, is the thing we stand in need of.”
“Locke argues that religion is a matter for the individual not the State. “The care of every man’s soul belongs unto himself, and is to be left unto himself.” The State ought to give equal protection to all churches and religious opinions.”
“There should always be charity and goodwill between different beliefs; toleration must be the norm, but even toleration has its limits.”
August 6th, 2008 at 1:56 pm“…if Muslims are going to get paid to pray, so should every other religion on this planet living in the USA .”
Every religion on the planet, or every religion in the USA? Kimberly, who told you that more words make you sound more smarter?
It’s amazing to me that any union would give up Labor Day, but organizations that fight for the workforce need to accurately represent their workforce.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:49 pmBad Photographer = Good Philosopher.
As I said in the forums, it is management’s job to offer a benefits package that provides value. If changing holidays increases the value to the employees (as a whole) without increasing the burden to the employer, only pettiness, incompetence or xenophobia would keep you from doing it.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:57 pmElect Obama and it will get a lot worse………….This is not about America……This is about our beliefs on what this country was founded on…..Christianity! Big corporations and unions could care less as long as their workers are producing and they are making profits. The only time Tyson will care about replacing Labor Day with a Muslim holiday is when the court costs start piling up. Shame on them for giving in to this type of bargaining. Quit buying their product and see what happens next. Make your voice heard. Let Tyson know you don’t approve of their move.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:21 amThis change was made to appease 250 Mulim ee’s from a plant of 1200 total.
I would disagree with one of Allen’s comments, this country was founded on religious freedom and though Muslims weren’t really a factor 200+ years ago, it did include Jews. Our country was founded on Christian principles, but not as a Christian country.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:02 am“Elect Obama and it will get a lot worse”
Wow. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the WTC attack occur with a R president, R gov, and R mayor? And we’re supposed to be afraid of electing Ds? Here’s a news flash - you can’t manage *anything* effectively on fear alone. Not a company, and certainly not a country.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:56 amCrucial Confrontations: “… when we look at others, we see their actions far more readily than we see the forces behind them. In contrast, when considering our own actions, we’re acutely aware of the forces behind our choices.” If 80% of the union members agreed to this provision, which was a top priority in the contract talks, perhaps they have considered factors about which the rest of us are unaware?
August 8th, 2008 at 7:27 amRay, ACU Frank, and Reasonable - excellent points.
This country was founded over 200 years ago. Thank heaven times have changed since then - that was a world that tolerated slavery, had no women’s rights, and a different set of standards. It worked then, and it gave birth to a great vision for the future. Most of the time we do well with that vision - as long as we keep our MINDS open.
If the traded day off makes the difference for the contract and the plant - that is a wonderful thing.
Ours is a multi cultural, multi religious society. We are a nation made up of many peoples - that is what has made this country work and has made it strong. We have to learn to understand and involve, and embrace change in order to move forward.
Whoever is elected this fall will bring change - thank heaven.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:48 amWhy not just have a floating holiday that anyone can use for whatever. I too think they missed the boat so to speak on this one…
August 8th, 2008 at 10:29 amTyson’s decision is as ridiculous as ACU Frank’s opinion. Floating holidays are the solution. Most nonunion companies have them.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pmThe author of this blog has it right when it comes to other religions expecting similar accomodations for their religions. The actions of the Union is not surprising given the percentage of Muslim members, especially when the total vote is well below the membership number, and I would imagine the Muslim members are a much more cohesive and motivated group to push the vote and make the Local do what they insist upon. Meat processing company have a very high percent of immigrant workers with a high level of diverse cultural and religious demands, and I would anticipate this will spread to the UFCW also. You will also find that most people could care less about most holidays, they really just want a paid off day.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:46 amI want to thank all of you for weighing in. I’ll add just a few more thoughts.
I approached this from an employment law standpoint. It pretty quickly morphed into an immigration issue or something having nothing to do with employment law.
I don’t think for a minute that Tyson or the union intentionally committed religious discrimination. Collective bargaining negotiations are tough, and both sides have to give and take in a reasonable manner to successfully negotiate a contract. I’m convinced that happened here. Given the large number of Muslim employees at the Shelbyville plant, it’s not surprising that the parties reached the initial result (which, of course, has now been changed). As a matter of fact, I’ll bet if you look at any company with a large Catholic population–union or non-union–the company has Good Friday as a paid holiday. If you look at any company with a large Jewish population, the company has Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur as a paid holiday.
What happened in this situation isn’t, therefore, unusual when there’s a large population of employees of one religious affiliation or another.
To me, what is still a fascinating employment law question is whether an employee not of the predominant religion would have a basis of filing suit under Title VII, claiming religious discrimination. If so, then it’s possible that a non-Christian could file suit about Christmas being a paid holiday. In my original post on this matter, I expressed doubt that this kind of suit would get anywhere, but it’s still a possibility.
Thanks again to all of your comments.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:08 pmIt can be simple or complicated…..If someone does not lie the way the rules in the United States are……GO HOME TO THE PLACE THAT IT IS APPARENT, YOU FLED FROM!
If I have to keep changing things that I don’t like,it is a waste for everyone!
JUST GET A GRIP!
January 18th, 2009 at 7:29 pm