On the one hand, the recent approval of a union contract at a Tysons Foods processing plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee to replace Labor Day on the holiday calendar with Eid-ul-Fitr, the holiday Muslims celebrate at the end of Ramadan, represented a triumph of democracy and religious accommodation. But after a predictable outcry, Tyson Foods reinstated Labor Day within a week and will allow employees a “floating holiday” instead of Eid-ul-Fitr in the future.

The original decision represented an isolated victory at best for Tyson’s Muslim workers. By briefly pitting the two holidays against each other, it also represented a net loss for everyone else, including the broader Muslim community in the United States. Unfortunately some damage has already been done.

Taking away an iconic holiday such as Labor Day from workers in order to accommodate a Muslim holiday played right into the hands of those who trumpet this union contract as proof of a Muslim cabal to take over America. For Muslim Americans, Labor Day and Eid-ul-Fitr have never been mutually exclusive. With that implication, the blogosphere overflowed with vitriolic comments from incensed Americans.

While their frustration and displeasure are understandable, their xenophobia, of course, is not. This is partly why the Tyson union contract was such a set back for Muslims seeking to create a truly integrated presence within American society. The decision exposed a lack of will and creativity by all concerned to create a meaningful solution to the need to observe a Muslim holiday.

The need to take time off for Eid ul-Fitr and other religious holidays is nothing new. Muslims in the United States have been struggling with this challenge for at least 3 to 4 decades. Over time Muslims in workplaces across the country have struck reasonable accommodations that allow them to observe their religious duties without impinging on co-workers' rights.

They have achieved these accommodations through open and earnest dialogue with management and by leveraging increasingly supportive state and federal laws and regulations calling for reasonable accommodations of religious practices in the workplace, which is exactly how the final position of Tyson Foods ended up.

Still, some argue that since Christmas is a paid holiday it is only fair that other religious holidays have explicit paid time off for their holidays as well. That might be nice but it does not make business sense, and in the case of Tyson we are talking about a profit-motivated enterprise.

Most businesses make Christmas a paid holiday because it is a practical thing to do. Why incur overhead to keep an office open when most employees will take time off and when productively will be significantly lower than other days?

Similarly, if the majority of workers in a particular company were Muslim, then following the same business reasoning, that company might make Muslim holidays paid time off in lieu of Christmas and other traditional paid holidays. This is, in fact, the case with Muslim-owned businesses in the U.S. and it makes perfect sense in these circumstances.

Such is not the case in the Tyson plant. Although Muslims constitute only 20% of the labor force, nearly 80% of the workers union voted for the holiday switch. Is this necessarily proof that the workforce supports this move? Perhaps it is and perhaps it isn't.

The fact that the majority of union members voted for this contract did not, by itself, mean that these workers supported the Eid ul-Fitr provision of the union contract. The union contract has likely dealt with multiple issues and concessions. It is neither implausible nor unreasonable for union workers to vote for a contract that includes unfavorable terms so long as it is, on balance, a good deal.

But beyond this, the decision simply felt wrong. Labor Day is one national holiday that everyone can and does celebrate. Regardless of whether you are a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Sikh or atheist, this holiday weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. It marks the end of white pants season. It is the last hurrah before the start of school and it heralds the beginning of football season. These are things that we can all come together around and enjoy.

While Muslim workers deserve to be given time off for their religious observances, it is obvious that we all need a lot more opportunities to bridge the differences that divide us.

The solution seems contained within the contract. Muslims can take a personal day (usually reserved for birthdays which muslims ostensibly do not celebrate) and use it for Eid. Also, The date of Eid changes.


"The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working man".

Unions didn't just occur naturally in America. They happened because thousands of people fought for them after suffering at the hands of indifferent profiteers.
To expect Unions not to vote for their own holiday in lieu of a holdiay celebrated by a small percentage of workers is... counterintuitive.

And to have a feeling of entitlement for time off- as if it is a right- displays a really poor knowledge of the labor movement and the history of immigrants and their integration into America.
Something earned after a group contributes and proves their committment to the wealth and health of this society.

Clearly you have never worked in a factory, or done union labor.
You don't even seem to understand what the holiday signifies.

And many Americans don't get Christmas off either, or even get holday pay. Why? Because they don't have unions to protect them.

Junaid writes-
" Why incur overhead to keep an office open when most employees will take time off and when productively will be significantly lower than other days?"

"That might be nice but it does not make business sense, and in the case of Tyson we are talking about a profit-motivated enterprise."

Why is an observer, with sympathies for the management aspect of the issue- writing about a subject he clearly has no experience with- knowledge about- nor any insight whatsoever?

Stick to your research kid- Altmuslim really dropped the ball on this one.

I thought to myself, maybe I was too hard on this guy- so I came and and reread it-
It only revealed simple mistakes I hadn't caught before.

This isn't a controversy- it is union negotiation- and it is not written in stone- the issues will change- and the union (and hopefully the stewards) will decide on renegotiations in the future-

There are 2 major flaws in your reasoning that make me seriously question your chosen field of research into social policy ad understanding-

1) You make the false assumption that every muslim is observant and none will take the double time pay instead of their holiday.
2) You make the incorrect observation that all management is motivated by purely business and financial considerations with no other intentions-

Why would one assume that all muslims are observant and faithful
and all christian business owners only take the holiday off for the bottom line- ascribing an almost inhuman character to them, as if no manager or owner has family or even religion of their own.

And finally- a floating holiday would also allow pagans to celebrate Samhein for instance-

Unions make deals and concessions- and I cannot really cry too much for the muslims with their union protected jobs-

That is the nature of labor in America- and the union busting forces that have driven down the wages and disappeared benefts make it really difficult to get steamed up about Eid day off-

Finally- no one is pitting Labor Day against Eid- next year Eid will be at a different time of year- should these workers have given up their holiday for future years?

I'm a muslim, and I don't feel that any net loss has occurred in the broad sense for me-

But I come from a union family- my mother was the first female steward in her union- and am on the labor side of the divide- and I understand the concept of UNITY in unions-
Again I ask- why is management writing about labor?

The entire idea behind unions is the ability to see both sides of the isues- both perspectives being represented and heard- and a degree of walking in each others shoes-

I fidn your article alarmist and uninformed, and your points scattered and almost unintelligble.

Muslims showing lack of respect for labour day is no surprise as our countries and our family businesses are generally devoid of them or replaced with some more patronising version, which we call Sunnah and is easy on the bottom line. Why not replace their day when we can just share ours with theirs?

>> The entire idea behind unions is the ability to see both sides of the isues- both perspectives being represented and heard- and a degree of walking in each others shoes-

In my country, Labour is full on communist redress of social inequalities, but the middle is still where both parties come out. But I think the big issue here is that Muslims don't want to appreciate any positive western values, believing it to be somehow against our religion to concede that improvements have been made without our noble interventions.

I think we should have legislation that makes the Eids a National Holiday, much like MLK Day. If people don't take it fine, but Muslims should have the option to celebrate.

Major religious holidays besides Christmas should be recognized in this country.