The internet was buzzing last week after an article in the Shelbyville (that's right, I said Shelbyville), Tenn. Times-Gazette reported that Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) employees at the local poultry plant could take off the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, instead of Labor Day. As you might expect in year seven of our 'war' on terrorism, some readers went apoplectic at the thought of an American corporation granting a non-Christian holiday.

Now Tyson is in a full-court press to respond to the story, and I think the company deserves consideration. Its press release explains that the exchange affects only this plant, and was granted in response to a request from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union. Around 250 of its members are Somali immigrants, legally in the U.S. as political refugees, who work at the plant.

Continue reading Tyson (TSN) employees' Muslim holiday furor much ado about nothing

Tyson (TSN) employees' Muslim holiday furor much ado about nothing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.