Monday, November 19, 2012

Black Friday: An Inside View from the Line Level

Michael DukeAs Black Friday approaches many of us in the retail sector dread the onslaught of nasty customers and time away from our families. Many companies are forcing workers to come in ON "Thanksgiving" day and one is even OPENING ON "Thanksgiving".

As a retail employee, I am not thankful for that.

Many of the top executives will be sound asleep when the stores open their doors. However, the main driver in the Black Friday retail employee abuse is CEO Michael Duke. Last year, Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke started a Black Friday Domino Effect, Wal-Mart was to open their doors at midnight. This action alone (midnight opening) sparked a response from all other retail chains to do the same so they would not loose out on business.
Walmart CEO Pay: More in an Hour Than Workers Get All Year?

This year, Wal-Mart is at it again.
Wal-Mart moved Black Friday from Friday to 8 PM THANKSGIVING DAY.  Corporate profits are more important than employee safety to companies these days and those of us at the line level are getting sick of it.

Workers are moving to organize a walkout given the ridiculous hours. 
OURWalmart organizers say they have 1,000 events planned this week. Support for the campaign, which has been gaining momentum across social media platforms, is mounting: The organization's Facebook page now has more than 29,000 'likes' and its accompanying YouTube video has been watched over 107,000 times.The organizers have also collected more than $38,000 in online donations to sponsor workers who walk out.

With all of this headache and the bastardizing of a Holiday, it may be prudent for consumers to ask themselves "am I contributing to this by participating".

Why Workers hate YOU for Black Friday

In my experience, this day is all about the money, but margins are so low it seems like a waste. Although a single store may make upwards of $1 Million that day, is the juice worth the squeeze?

Black Friday destroys worker sentiment, meaning, we all begin to hate the company we work for and want to spite it in revenge. Couple the OUTRAGEOUS hours we have to work, with the loss of sleep, with the loss of time with our families, with the belligerent customers, and you receive a recipe for angry employees.

In short, you are hated because you make us work ON A HOLIDAY!