Target employees protest Black Friday midnight opening

[monmouth]

Thousands of Target employees are incensed over having to report to work before they digest their Thanksgiving dinner.

Like other big stores, Target is trying to get a hop on Black Friday madness by requiring many employees to clock in at 11 p.m. Thanksgiving night for a midnight opening. Last year, Target stores opened at 5 a.m. Black Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, which has become a national retail holiday as the official start of the holiday shopping season.

More than 75,000 Target employees and supporters have signed an online petition to protest the company’s assignment, according to The Washington Business Journal.

The online campaign asking Target to change the decision was started by Target employee Anthony Hardwick, who works as a parking lot attendant for Target in Omaha, Neb. In a statement given by spokeswoman for Target Corp., all hourly employees working on Black Friday will receive holiday pay.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/target-employees-protest-black-friday-midnight-opening-1972328.html

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. People who hit a store at 7 am to shop need to get a life.

It's ridiculous.

I remember one year when a woman showed up at 7 am, and wanted me to show her some jewelry. I told her, "Ma,am, I have to get all these trays of jewelry into the cases and locked, as part of our insurance. I cannot leave these items out with the safe open."

She glared at me for several minutes while I ignored her, doing my job.

[BadgerKid]

4. Like the yard sale scavengers. n/t

[sammytko]

30. Lol! I made two of them wait

Hey. They asked if I minded if they looked while we were setting up, and I said YES, I mind. They scotched off to their vehicles and waited. I always have good stuff, so they knew it was worth the wait. One lady got tons of free stuff that she will resell.

[Xithras]

19. I do mine at 10AM.

Let the idiots beat each other to death before dawn. At 10, I get the same sales and half the crowds.

[WillParkinson]

77. Then apparently I have no life...

I'm a 3rd shifter. I shop at 3 or 4 in the morning (of course only at 24 hour stores).

[bighughdiehl]

2. Oh boy....

Anthony is so fired.
nature of the beast

[hedgehog]

3. The crazy shopping routines hit the entire holiday season for people

working retail. Family members have to bow out early on Thanksgiving day and work late Christmas Eve. Then, they have to be back at work promptly on December 26 to handle all the returns and gift cards!


My family is used to working around the 24/7 shifts required by the railroad, the steel mill or the hospital. It seems pretty silly to have to work around people's need to shop 24/7!

[meow2u3]

5. Occupy Black Friday!

That's an idea for a general strike. Paralyze Big Business!

[Cali_Democrat]

6. I've never participated in "Black Friday"

Why fight the crowds?

I usually wake up late on Friday, reheat some left over thanksgiving dinner, crack open a beer and watch college football.

[rjj621]

13. That's my Black Friday routine as well

The last thing I want to do is deal with a bunch of shoppers pushing and shoving to get the best deals.

[SnohoDem]

47. Yep

Watch football, read a book, take a walk - do ANYTHING but face those crowds!

[blueamy66]

56. oh yeah

I've NEVER gone out shopping the day after Thanksgiving. NEVER

[CanonRay]

61. Never done it, never will.

I hate crowds.

[gratuitous]

They're getting holiday pay!

Buncha unamerican commie ingrates! Don't they know that the Holy and Sacred Job Creators require their presence to sell more stuff? Sure, a few people at the very top are going to make a shitload of money from all this commerce, but don't those drones appreciate their own role in making more money for the top dogs? They're even getting an extra nickel an hour! The American consumer demands that shopping begin at the stroke of midnight. Target is merely satisfying that demand; why do these people hate the Free Market?

All things, even your holiday time, must be subservient to greater profits. And if you don't wanna work at midnight, there are plenty of unemployed people who will . . .

What could those Occupy people possibly want? Target's going to be open at the stroke of 12 on November 25! It's a goddam Nirvana.

[malaise]

18. Couldn't say it better

Rec

[joeybee12]

21. Odds are they are all part-timers with about 15 hours scheduled per week...

and won't get holiday pay...I worked a second job at Target for a few months...worked two holidays, no extra pay.

[Dawson Leery]

23. While in retail, I never received "holiday pay" either.

[joeybee12]

31. I also never got holiday pay at a job I had at a hotel...

I think a lot of people don't realize that "holiday" pay as a benefit is not that widespread.

[Dawson Leery]

7. We never shop on Black Friday.

The time waiting in line is not worth it. Add this new absurdity.

[la la]

9. not worth it to me, either--

i've never, ever done it---i don't need to spend the money i don't have anywayS! ;>)

[ellisonz]

8. Messed up.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

10. Back in 1999-2000 we had empty stores and no sales.

I asked the dept. manager, this was in a lease department in a major department store, if we could be fired for not meeting our almighty "sales quotas". I said that if there was no customer traffic, we could not meet those sales quotas.

They never answered me. They looked terrified that I brought it up, and I explained WHY we might not meet our sales quotas, and I explained that the lack of traffic was beyond our control.

Guess they couldn't handle a rational simple question.


:shrug:

[dana_b]

11. some of those comments are really irritating

blaming the workers, the unions... "if you don't like it, quit!". So much for caring about our fellow wo/man.

[monmouth]

16. The commenters on the Post are the same every day. They hate

everything and everyone. They are to be ignored..Mostly teabaggers I might add.

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. Disgusting, isn't it?

[rjj621]

28. I get annoyed at those comments also

"If you don't like it... quit" or "Don't complain because you have a job" comments are incredibly narrow minded. Most people with jobs complain about them, and now it's more worker exploitation to make more money. Companies know they have most of their workers bent over a barrel and they don't have many options, also that there are other people waiting to take their place if a position opens.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

41. The saddest thing is

There are people making those comments here.

[rsmith6621]

12. The Employees Should Have Unionized.....

.....Instead of listening to the COMPANY BULL$HIT....

[Major Nikon]

52. There's the right answer

If they don't unionize, they are an at-will employee, which means as long as their employer isn't violating any labor laws they can do as they wish. The right way to address these kinds of problems is to form a union.

[blueamy66]

59. My Dad worked for AA....no union...

he volunteered to work the holidays, cause he got paid double time and 1/2.

We missed him but managed to celebrate around his hours. And it wasn't every year.

He worked hard for us.

I'm torn on this issue.

[Major Nikon]

63. Here's another way of looking at it

Most any very highly paid employee works under a contract. Most CEOs and other high level executives that do not own the company or corporation work under contract. That contract prescribes the conditions of employment by which that employee works.

So if the CEO of a corporation doesn't trust the board of directors enough to work without a contract, why should the lowest paid employees be expected to do so?

[blueamy66]

64. Well, if one accepts a non-union job offer,

shouldn't one expect to not be "covered" by a union?

[Major Nikon]

69. Even those positions benefit from unions

If a union negotiates a certain benefit, such as say double time on holidays, volunteers taken first, or whatever, even non-covered positions quite often benefit because management will usually extend those benefits to non-covered positions. Otherwise employees have fewer incentives to move into those positions.

Likewise even other non-unionized industries in the area quite often benefit because other employers have to compete for employees with union shops and union pay and benefits. That's why areas with strong union presence typically have better pay and benefits across the board while 'right to work' states typically have the lowest pay and benefits.

[blueamy66]

73. Interesting....

thanks for the info

[CreekDog]

81. Torn? In what way? Does it mean part of you is against unions?

or does it mean you're just don't see any value to them?

when Unions go to Washington to push for things to make workers' lives better, they don't tell Congress to pass laws that only benefit union members.

they want everyone to enjoy the things they are fighting for --Family and Medical Leave Act, for example.

better unemployment benefits.

higher minimum wages.

better protection for worker safety.

AND you know what? they don't have to fight for the rights on non-union workers. unions have the right to negotiate contracts with their employers, so they could gain the things they want through that process. instead they do that AND try to win those benefits for all workers, regardless of their union status.

if you're at home enjoying a quiet Saturday thanks to yours or a family member's weekday job --thank a union. in the old days there wasn't a weekend. the Labor movement started that.

[DenverDad]

14. I guess this clears it up once and for all.

The middle-class consumers AND their demand for products ARE the true "job-creators".

[Romulox]

15. What can you do, when you have a Hyundai payment due?

Clock in, and continue racing to the bottom! :shrug:

[SoCalMusicLover]

17. It's Not Fair!!

I don't understand why I have to wait until Midnight after Thanksgiving to do my Christmas shopping. Seriously, how is that fair? I will barely have enough time to finish before Santa comes to visit on Xmas eve.

The worst part is that I am jewish and don't even celebrate Christmas, but that's irrelevant.

Oh well, guess I should probably go camp out in front of Target until next Thursday night so I don't miss out.

[supernova]

20. Ridiculous

the super early opening of stores on Black Friday. How many years ago now that a WalMart employee got trampled to death in this maddness?

There is nothing in the store worth someone's dignity or self-respect, much less a life.

That being said, trying to do it all before Thanksgiving. Much less drama and hassle.

[lbrtbell]

29. I don't get why that happened

Wal-Mart is open 24/7. Why were the doors locked at any time, anyway?

[Incitatus]

46. I guess time was needed to change all the prices on the shelves and in the computers.

Also the deals they use to lure customers in often have a very limited availability so they need to set up the 5 tvs for $200 that people can trample each other to death to reach. I guess a few dead customers doesn't mean much to them, they have millions more.

[NightWatcher]

22. I wonder if any of these are the same people that decided not to unionize

[WolverineDG]

24. When I was working those kind of jobs

I'd kill to get hours when they offered holiday pay. No one was ever "forced" to work holidays since there were more than enough volunteers.

And yes, in these tough times, there ARE plenty of unemployed/underemployed people who would love to have this "problem."

dg

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Politicalboi]

44. Could be unsafe if they don't get enough sleep

People don't need to shop at midnight on a holiday. Why can't the employees have some time off with their families. For those who want to work OT, then they should be able to work if enough want to work. But if they are on probation, they won't get holiday pay, and they may HAVE to work to keep their job. They either should have a truce about hours among stores, or have more Black Fridays till Christmas. This is way too much to ask of minimum wage workers.

[joeglow3]

53. My wife felt the same way, but the hospital wouldn't shut down for Christmas

Fucking assholes.

[WolverineDG]

57. Well, then they'll have to do what everyone else who has ever had to balance

work & personal life--find a way to work around it. It's not the employer's responsibility to see that they "get enough sleep." :eyes:

dg

[blueamy66]

60. Aren't there laws about how many hours one gets after one

shift before reporting for another shift?

[WolverineDG]

65. If Target is closed all day Thanksgiving & the employees don't report until 11 pm

:eyes:

:think:

Sorry, but I refuse to see this as a "real" problem to get bent out of shape over.

dg

[blueamy66]

68. How about Walgreen's and other grocery stores that

ARE open on Thanksgiving?

Just askin.....

[WolverineDG]

70. FFS, I'm not going to play "what about this? what about that?"

:eyes:

dg

[blueamy66]

72. okay...go to bed

you get riled up easily, dontcha?

And I'm not bent outta shape....this is a discussion board, no?

I was asking a serious question....

[dflprincess]

75. In my area most the grocery stores are union

The close at midnight on Wednesday night and don't open again until 6AM Friday & this includes the ones that are usually open 24 hours.

[FirstLight]

50. retail workers

rarely make more than $8-9/hr and do not get "time and a half" for that kind of work, that day is not a holidaY

[WolverineDG]

58. The OP states that Target is paying time & a half for Black Friday nt

[WolverineDG]

55. Wow, just wow.

Anyways, they aren't complaining about unsafe working conditions, or working off the clock. They just don't want to work from midnight to whenever, at time & a half. When you work at places like that, or any other place for that matter, you work when you're assigned to. I've had a wide variety of jobs, & I've never been able to make my own hours & I doubt many employers allow employees to do that.

Call me when they're complaining about a real problem, not just whining like spoiled brats about having to work on Black Friday.

dg

[blueamy66]

62. I speak frequently to a CVS employee

She stated that the store manager posted a note next to the work schedule that stated that EVERYONE WILL BE WORKING ON THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING....NO EXCUSES.....Too bad it's her birthday...she said that she asks for 2 days off a year....her bday and her son's bday...it sux for her

[WolverineDG]

66. Sucks for everyone who has to work on their birthday

I've been dying to take my own birthday off for years...hasn't happened since the last time it fell on a weekend because even though I work in an office, *something* always happens that requires my attention at work. I'm sure the vast majority of people would love to take their own birthdays off too, but can't. Welcome to the club of Life Sucks.

dg

[blueamy66]

67. I just wish she could work only 4 hours or so....but she has to work 8

I've seen her in the CVS shopping and I bought her little guy a fun present...he was ecstatic over a airplane/candy dispenser...I just don't get the Black Friday craziness...never have, never will...just like my SIL's bro who stood in line for 4 hours last night to see the new Twilight....are you kidding me???

[Mimosa]

26. Consumers are as greedy as the corporations

They are so desperate to buy all the toys, the stuff, usually made in China.

It doesn't bother them at all that store personnel are treated like slaves. :(

[Lady President]

27. I love Black Friday, but not this year

I adore shopping on Black Friday.... checking all the ads on Thanksgiving, the chaos, etc.

Personally, I rarely buy anything, but I love to be a part of it all. I do not like the midnight openings. Not only is it horrible for the employees who will need to leave their families earlier, but for the shoppers. Lots of people looking for deals show up hours early. It's ruining the holiday. I read somewhere a quote from an exec at Best Buy who hated the idea, but didn't feel they had a choice.

Additionally, it will affect other businesses. I've heard that coffee shops and fast food places figure that they need to be open earlier. I used to work at a large bank, and BF is an all-hands-on-deck day. Mind you, these aren't the highly paid bankers, but the grunts who need to make sure that credit cards work.

All around bad idea!

[rjj621]

34. I'm not sure I agree with "we don't have a choice"

The basic reasoning for the earlier openings is to stay competitive with their competition. There are a limited number of "big savings' items available, I'm expected to believe Best Buy or Target couldn't stay competitive opening 5 hours later? That a crowd wouldn't still be lined up to get in when the doors open? That it would kill their sales because Wal-Mart opened earlier? Bullshit

[Lady President]

38. Disagree with you

Opening hours later would put any company at a competitive disadvantage. They want people in their store while they still have money. If the customer spends everything they have at Walmart or Target, then Best Buy loses sales. It's a shopping frenzy and people don't think through their purchases. Stores don't care if customers get their deeply discounted items. It's better for them to have a customer in the mood to buy a television just miss out on the big sale, then buy something more expensive. Plus, when my friends and I power-shopped on BF we only had so much energy. It used to be that you would spend time with family, sleep a couple hours, then shop. With midnight sales most people will stay awake. Shopper fatigue would hurt "late" opening stores.

If the stores find that it wasn't economic worth it to open at midnight, then they'll go back to the traditional hours. It's all dependent on money.

[joeglow3]

78. I think Best Buy is dumb

There is a local store here that competes with the likes of Best Buy (Nebraska Furniture Mart). They have stuck by their "open at 7" policy on Friday for years and I assume they are doing the same now. What I expect to see is shit tons of people deciding which 1 of all the stores to hit at midnight. They will then all converge on the Mart, meaning they will have little competition. If stores were smart, they would stagger their openings and I guarantee they would all see more people.

[Initech]

32. I haven't set foot in a store on Black Friday in 7 years.

And the one attempt I made I wound up turning my car around after seeing the line at Best Buy around the fucking building, went home and went back to sleep.

[MedleyMisty]

33. One way to show solidarity and help them out

Don't shop at Target on Black Friday. Don't shop at ANY corporate chain on Black Friday. Go local, or don't buy anything at all.

Stop giving money to people who want to exploit us, take away our freedom, and force us into poverty.

[FirstLight]

51. + a Brazillion!

isn;t that one of the things that we can do as OWS supporters, mass boycotts? hmmmmm...not a bad idea...Boycott Black Friday! :evilgrin:

not like i have the MONEY to shop, anyway ...

[sofa king]

35. Employees have a number of deceptive options:

1) Call in sick. Think hard about Grandma's marshmallow yams: haven't they already given you food poisoning?

2) Check traffic.com, find the worst traffic jam 300 miles from your home, and claim you're stuck in that, along with everyone else who has to work Thursday night;

3) You are surrounded by family members, many of whom are old and potentially facing a timely family emergency. Doctors don't write notes for concerned family members, you know, so they can't ask you for one;

3a) Are you really that paranoid? Call a hospital near where you'll be, ask at the desk which of their elderly patients hasn't got flowers this week, get the name of your new Aunt, and send her some flowers. Name, receipt, record, done.

4) Inform your employer that you have OTHER FUCKING PLANS!

Look, if you're a good employee who does a good job, they're not going to trade you in for a stoned second-stringer who already got passed over once for your position and who can't possibly be trained as well as you are in the next four weeks, particularly if you come up with a plausible excuse. If you're one of those folks who has an essential job and you feel Target needs you, then it's practically your duty to stay away, because we the people need you much more.

Why would you not lie to a greedy corporation that's out to fuck you so that some pencil-pusher can afford a new Porsche as a Christmas bonus? You should ALL do it, and then see where the hell that gets Target.

[Obamanaut]

36. There are people all over the country whose shift starts at midnight, even the

Friday after Thanksgiving. Some shifts start at 4pm even on Thanksgiving Day. Some people adjust their holiday celebrations so that they coincide with their days off.

I worked for several years, 4 pm to midnight, and my days off were Wednesday and Thursday. If the holiday was not on those two days, I worked.

[Scout]

37. if that is your regular shift, fine, that is one thing....

but this is NOT their regular shift. they don't have staff for the whole store that works a midnight shift normally.

we're not talking about hospital staff, EMTs ... it's just shopping for fuck sake.

i have worked midnight shift as my normal shift in the past, and we were allowed on occasion to change the day we celebrated the holiday so as not to have to go to work at 11pm on Christmas Day, or at 11pm on Thanksgiving Day. as long as the whole shift wanted it, and management agreed, it was a done deal. but like i said, we worked that shift all year.

[Name removed]

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[Contrary1]

43. Walmart is opening here at 6:00pm...Thanksgiving night. n/t

[Kat45]

45. In Mass., some retailers are pissed that they can't be open ON Thanksgiving

Stores in New Hampshire, right next door, will be open so stores in Mass. are arguing that they will lose business to NH by not being open. Shit, remember the days when nothing was open on holidays--or Sundays? I mostly feel bad for the low-paid employees who work in retail. I've been out of work for a long time and really need a job. I've been thinking of trying to get a retail job for the holidays, but I'm reluctant to have to work the hours they expect, and I'm not just talking about holidays. I have a problem with jobs where they only give you your schedule a week at a time and give you different hours every week. How can you have a life outside work when you can't plan anything ahead of time? They also may have you working late one night and coming in early morning the next day. I don't fall asleep very easily and I'd be a total mess if I had to change my wake/sleep cycle from day to day.

[tsuki]

48. I intend to boycott Black Friday. nt

[Incitatus]

49. It's pathetic.

The behavior of people in some of the videos of Black Friday resemble that of the starving people in Haiti that were swarming the UN trucks for food after the quake.

[Raine]

54. I've NEVER shopped on "black Friday" and NEVER will, I HATE crowds. nt

x(

[blueamy66]

71. I'm with ya.

Hell, I'd lose it in the parking lot before I even got near the entrance door.

:-)

[bhikkhu]

74. "If your personal life is getting in the way of your job...

we can take care of part of the second part of the problem for you" - what a manager told me and the crew at a job I had a few years ago. Its the only job I've ever been fired from, and in retrospect that was a good thing to have happened.

I think they should reward employees appropriately enough for staffing a midnight sale that enough employees actually want to staff the midnight sale. Nobody even likes shopping at a place where the employees are miserable and coerced.

[blueamy66]

76. One more thing....

there are just the two of us....of course my guy has a kid and I have multiple nieces/nephews/great nieces/nephews/step nephews (it's complicated)....but cannot fathom getting up at 1 a.m. to buy a stupid present.

The kids get more excited about a card and some cash. The little ones do happy dances when they get a $10 bill.

We have too much crap in my house as it is....I don't want to buy anymore crap!!!!! :-)

The only thing that I am thinking about this year is a flat screen....a BIG, HUGE 32 incher! :-) $300 at Target or Costco....everyday.....

Don't get Black Friday AT ALL!!!! I'd rather be at home with some hot chocolate, a fire, my jammies and the newspaper!

[Name removed]

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[treestar]

80. Who is going to be going shopping there a midnight?

:shrug:

People are nuts. Certifiably.