Black Friday 2012 – Retail Workers Fight Back!
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Black Friday, the infamous biggest shopping day of the year, is approaching again and most people are preparing their lists and plans of attack for when they hit the major retail stores like Wal-Mart and Target on the Friday following Thanksgiving.
But not everyone is looking forward to Black Friday this year. In fact, there’s an entire group of people who dread Black Friday.
THE RETAIL WORKERS . . .
As Black Friday got more and more competitive in a down economy, many stores struggled to stay ahead. Stores started slipping their sales in earlier, trying to beat out the competition. Their openings went from early morning to midnight. Now those sales are creeping into the Thanksgiving holiday, with many stores opening their doors at 8pm on Thursday. And many of those workers who are forced to abandon plans with their families are fed up.
Target worker, Casey St. Clair, started a change.org petition urging Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel to not follow the pack and refuse to order stores to open in line with other retailers on Thanksgiving. As St. Clair points out, Thanksgiving used to be one of only 3 holidays that retail workers were guaranteed off, Christmas and New Year’s Day being the other two. While she has accepted the need to be open on Black Friday, she feels that company is forcing employees to work on the actual holiday to beat out to competition is unfair.
Wal-Mart Retail Worker’s Protest (Source: foxnews.com)
Some retail workers are taking an even more aggressive stance. Wal-Mart, which is known for staying ahead of the Black Friday competition, might be taking a big hit. It has been reported that more than 1,000 stores are planning walk outs on Black Friday itself. Protests are planned both in stores and online. Wal-Mart has had its trouble with workers in the past, with rumors of high handed tactics used to dissuade union’s from organizing in their stores. The current threats of walkouts aren’t just a response to the retail store opening early. They’re also an ongoing response to complaints of low pay, poor working conditions and unfair working hours.
It’s not just the employees that feel that way Black Friday has gone too far.
Customers are getting annoyed at the way the day is slowly creeping into the Thanksgiving holiday. Many of the signatures in the 200,000 names on the change.org petition are the signatures of customers. While the majority of the people signing work in retail or are related to someone who does, many customers with no attachment at are complaining that the Black Friday sales creeping into Thanksgiving are ruining their holidays as well, by forcing them out the door earlier than they intended.
Source: cnn.money.com
This year, Black Friday might just turn out differently for retailers.
With consumers and workers alike becoming frustrated with extended hours and less time with their families, it might reduce their profits. In addition, if Wal-Mart employees strike like their planning, there is a good chance that a damper will be placed on most holiday shoppers spending. Maybe it’s time to forgo Black Friday entirely. I for one will be participating in Cyber Monday instead. It’s Black Friday without leaving the house and no one has to miss time with their families to do it.
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