SPRINGDALE, Ark. – Tyson Foods Inc. announced Friday that it has reached a new agreement with the union at the Shelbyville, Tenn. Plant, reinstating Labor Day as one of the paid holidays for union employees.

Tyson said it made the request to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) on behalf of employees at the plant who had expressed concerns about the new paid holidays. The union voted to reinstate Labor Day as one of the plant’s holidays and keeping Eid al-Fitr as an additional paid holiday for this year only. This means that in 2008 only, Shelbyville employees will have nine paid holidays. Eid al-Fitr is the final day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

For the remainder of the five-year contract period, the eight paid holidays will include: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and a Personal Holiday, which could either be the employee’s birthday, Eid al-Fitr or another day requested and approved by their supervisor. 

This issue concerns only the plant at Shelbyville, Tennessee.

Source: Tyson Foods Inc.