Originally published at: Sabbath showdown: Chick-fil-A vs. New York State legislation - Boing Boing
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34 posts were split to a new topic: On the merits of creating freedom by forcing people to stay home on Sunday
I’ve read a bit about this, but I haven’t been able to find anything related to why Chik-fil-a got the bid to be one of the major food choices in NY rest stops. Many people travel on Sunday and in some rest stops there will be no food choices. How did this come to be ?
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If it is like Texas, Chick-fil-A put in a much larger bid for the spot. They’ve done that at universities and airports. And because the governments involved don’t want to get hit with a lawsuit for religious discrimination (see the situation in San Antonio) , they took the extra money.
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… pretty sure that meant Saturday when it was written, not just “pick a day, whatever works for you”
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A case like this might not seem like a big deal at first but it really is very important. Religion in the US is a vector for right wing politics. The Founders knew that any kind of religious intrusion has no place in a democratic government. As the right makes so many attempts to rule this country they will use any and every inroad to gain power over all of us. Chick-fil-a has options. They can pack their bibles and business and get out of the rest stop.areas and shut down on any day they want. Weaseling their way through our laws is wrong. They have a shit hemorrhage anytime any social club/religion except Xtians get any recognition. How many Muslim holidays or regulations would be tolerated, or Pagans, or Jewish groups get government exception to laws? Keep these creeps out of government at any and every level. I don’t want to live under their dictates.
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CFA has a 33 year contract, so it could take a while before this impacts them.
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Back on topic, weird fixations on every human being forced to rest on Sunday aside.
That is a mighty long contract. I wonder if that is normal?
A change in the law is usually grounds to nullify a contract without penalties. Maybe that’s why the legislator wants this as a law?
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My understanding is that this law only impacts restaurants at new rest stops being built, not existing ones. So for the current Chic-fil-A’s, nothing would change. This would only affect their operation if they elect to go into the new ones. I could be wrong, but that’s what I remember reading this morning.
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Wow… that’s… kind of authoritarian, dude. Mandating shit also doesn’t work, for all the reasons people have pointed out. It assumes we’re all interchangeable cogs and are all just alike in our social lives…
But not being able to get in the water, since everyone has the day off, including life guards… And again, people having heart attacks can’t wait to get help for Monday…
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It is hilarious the local San Antonio news outlet is covering this, but they are and have a quote of the law. Looks like contracts in place won’t be affected. But given the major revamp, this could impact the majority of the stops. So that 35 year contract will stay
The bill’s language says:
This legislation will ensure that all future contracts for food concessions at transportation facilities owned by the Thruway Authority, as well as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will be required to operate seven days a week, with an exclusion to temporary concessions such as farmers markets or local vendors.
While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant. Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public. Allowing for retail space to go unused one seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas.
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I believe people’s religion should be considered, but I strongly object to any time someone says their business has a religion.
And since Chick-fil-A isn’t a small 1 man operation, I’m sure they can find someone who’s perfectly fine working pretty much any day.
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I can see how it bothers people. But as long as Chick-fil-A is displaying their performative religious crap on private property, they should be allowed. Lots of businesses close a single day a week for rational reasons like business is never good on Tuesdays. Now, the issues with discrimination of their workers, that needs to stop.
It’s a problem here because a government is contracting these businesses to provide services to travelers and Chick-fil-A won’t do that on a busy travel day. Inconveniencing travelers and sometimes the other businesses
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This appears to be a ridiculous loophole that the New York lawmaker is, sensibly, trying to close off.
Of course if you’re awarded a contract to provide services at, say, a highway rest area, a state or national park, or a freaking retirement community or hospital you should be required to provide those services during all operating hours.
@Tickyy - despite all your comments, you’ve not addressed why those of us who work in fields that are on call or can’t get a specific “day” off don’t deserve the same recognition or family time you claim everyone else deserves. It just seems kind of mean.
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I really think if it were almost any other business, they would never get the contracts. But Chick-fil-A is both big and influential, with a lot of money to splash around, and wrap themselves in religion. So any denial because they won’t provide services on Sunday looks like religious discrimination. Well, they and their supporters claim it is anyway. San Antonio tried to kick them out of the airport because they discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. Not the religion of the company owners
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A lot of the things I do on my day off require the participation of other people: dentist and doctor appointments, grocery shopping, banking. I can’t do any of those things if everyone has the same day off.
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What a sad, strange little hill to die on.
That said, my ideal situation would be a four day work week with three rotating off days…
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We really should be at a 32 hour work week for ALL workers…
So you’re in favor of a 6 day work week - a 48 hour work week, with only one day off? I thought you were pro-worker? 
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This isn’t even a conversation anymore.
Anyway, private companies should not get state sponsored monopolies in controlled areas if they’re not capable of servicing all customers that are locked into their areas. Period end of.
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