| Topic: Walmart workers plan Black Friday protests, Walmart asks Judge to stop protest | < Next Oldest | Next Newest > |
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ol-zeke 
me in the Tetons
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 12:06 am |
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Wouldn't bother me if all stores closed for the entire weekend. Yes, i know it is a big weekend for retail, and it is about this time of year when most stores finally hit a profit, thus the black in Black Friday.
Most of this is in retaliation for stores opening earlier and earlier for Black Friday, with some stores opening at 9 PM on Thursday this year. Businesses must learn that you cannot mess with an employee's pay or hours without causing some back lash.
Now, if we could just do something about raising the minimum wage nationwide.
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Everything I know, I learned by doing it wrong at least twice.
The easiest way to ruin a Friday is to realize it is only Tuesday.
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Ben2World
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 12:09 am |
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Businesses are just doing their bit to 'satisfy demand'. To me, it's a sad testament to how we as a society are prioritizing lately...
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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine
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rorak
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 1:52 am |
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Walmart should be protested against, they have many unfair and discriminatory policy's in regard to there employees and competition.
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Paul TC,MI.
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JimInMD
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 6:03 am |
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My bet is that within 5 years, all major chains will open at 5pm on Thanksgiving. The pitch will be to appeal to sterotypes that men can stay home and watch football, the women can go shopping.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 6
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walkngawk
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 6:14 am |
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Greed is God, shopping his sacrament and the American Holy Days of Worship begin on Thanksgiving!
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Contentment comes from moderation in all things: But, don’t overdue that either.
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| Post Number: 7
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Montecresto
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 8:08 am |
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F$&K Walmart
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Killing one person is murder, killing a 100,000 is foreign policy
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| Post Number: 8
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| Post Number: 9
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Ben2World
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 5:21 pm |
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(EastieTrekker @ Nov. 20 2012, 2:11 pm)
QUOTE
(Ben2World @ Nov. 20 2012, 12:09 am)
QUOTE Businesses are just doing their bit to 'satisfy demand'. To me, it's a sad testament to how we as a society are prioritizing lately... I disagree. There's always some level of residual demand in this country for the people who don't care much for family time, and just want to get out of the house for a bit and do some shopping. Opening early (say 4:00AM or 5:00AM on Black Friday) is well enough to satisfy the demand of any given radius surrounding a shopping center. The whole opening earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving (and letting that bleed into the actual Black Friday event) is just a strategy retailers are using to extract every last dollar that they can from consumers. "Come in Thursday and beat the crowds"; "Come in Thursday for a deal that we won't be having on Friday". If all retailers stayed closed on Thanksgiving. I am quite confident that there will be enough supply on Friday to serve every last consumer who so desires to shop that day. Edit: I think the fact that these "protests" are catching airtime in the media is an example of how our society is getting sick of priorities that retailers project onto American consumers
Well, more effective than any form of protest is to have those stores open -- with no shoppers showing up!! Bet they won't do it again!
We collectively have only ourselves to blame. For better and for worse, we are one gigantic consumer society. To blame the stores for our current state is like blaming McD for our extra weight.
Not directed at you at all but just making a general statement -- we as a society seem to be demanding more and more 'freedom' -- to do whatever the heck we want -- don't anyone tell us what we should or shouldn't do -- while acknowledging less and less personal responsibility over anything...
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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine
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| Post Number: 10
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EastieTrekker
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 6:15 pm |
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(Ben2World @ Nov. 20 2012, 5:21 pm)
QUOTE Well, more effective than any form of protest is to have those stores open -- with no shoppers showing up!! Bet they won't do it again!
We collectively have only ourselves to blame. For better and for worse, we are one gigantic consumer society. To blame the stores for our current state is like blaming McD for our extra weight.
Not directed at you at all but just making a general statement -- we as a society seem to be demanding more and more 'freedom' -- to do whatever the heck we want -- don't anyone tell us what we should or shouldn't do -- while acknowledging less and less personal responsibility over anything...
I agree that we are a consumption based economy, and I also agree that the most sure fire way to stop retailers from opening at these hours is to not shop. But I guess that's not going to happen realistically.
Though I recall working at Sears one Easter Sunday and literally being able to count the number of customers on my two hands, and they still opened the next year (though I don't know if they continue to engage in this practice).
It's more of a Catch 22 to me: people like to shop on Black Friday so retailers push hours, retailers push hours giving a wider time-frame for "the best deals" and drive more consumers to their doors.
However, I feel if there were not incentives such as the $20.95 120" flat screen TV's being advertised, and it were more of an ordinary shopping day, there wouldn't be nearly as much demand on these two days of the year.
But I hear ya' Ben.
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I request all the possible consumer protection organizations, and fight with their injustice. 
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| Post Number: 11
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ol-zeke
me in the Tetons
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 7:00 pm |
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If they just asked for volunteers among their employees, and offered some sort of pay bonus for giving up the time, then maybe it wouldn't be protest worthy. Folks that didn't mind working for a few extra $ would be happy to show up for the shoppers who just couldn't wait for Friday to arrive.
As it is, with retail in general, the employer set the hours and the employees are griping. In that scenario, I side with the employees.
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Everything I know, I learned by doing it wrong at least twice.
The easiest way to ruin a Friday is to realize it is only Tuesday.
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| Post Number: 12
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star
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 8:43 pm |
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The Walmart strikes are not about working on the holiday, they started in late summer with distribution center workers in Illinois protesting unfair scheduling, unsafe work conditions, and pay. Now they've added company retaliation for labor actions to the list as well.
As someone in a similar line of work, I think working the holiday is the least of their concerns, it's a given that someone has to work if the business is open. We've had many a family "Christmas" in January because Winter break is a busy time for a good chunk of my family at work. We're also making more money at that time, which of course offsets not being able to participate in weekends and holidays the way many others can.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012....s_stage
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If I wanted to live in a dictatorship I would have picked a place with shorter winters.
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| Post Number: 13
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justwalkin
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Posted on: Nov. 20 2012, 9:36 pm |
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If you don't like the hours then find a job in other than retail.
That's one perspective, and one that has a lot of merit.
Another perspective is to have the state (plug in your government entity) dictate hours. When I lived in Germany a few decades ago store hours were rigidly determined by local ordinance. As an example, I think evening shopping was reserved for Tuesdays and Thursdays only. I like that approach; it promotes community and family time and downplays the 24/7 consumer culture. Nobody needs to buy a widescreen TV at 3:00 A.M.
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If a day in the mountains is better than a week at work, why aren't I working in the mountains?
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| Post Number: 14
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Bateauxdriver
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Posted on: Nov. 25 2012, 8:03 am |
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I'll never understand waiting in line for Black Friday, the next IPhone or a rock concert. Being first at consumerism has never driven me. I don't generally buy a product or service until month and years of use can be reviewed.
I'd never be willing to trample other customers in order to grab one of the 3 limited quantity bargains used as bait for the masses. To me it's nothing more than peasants fighting for scrapes dropped from the masters table.
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| Post Number: 15
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star
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Posted on: Nov. 25 2012, 12:11 pm |
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Again. The protests aren't all about working on the holiday. Low pay, unfair scheduling (avoiding the threshold for benefits), treatment of workers, racial and sexual discrimination (remember the recent Too Big To Sue Lawsuit?), retaliation for labor organization. Black Friday is simply the very best day to ding them. It's their busiest day of the year, the public is there, the media already has an eye on them, and if they lose business, well the only thing they seem to take notice of is sales totals.
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If I wanted to live in a dictatorship I would have picked a place with shorter winters.
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| Post Number: 16
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Hungry Jack
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Posted on: Nov. 26 2012, 4:07 pm |
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(Ben2World @ Nov. 20 2012, 5:21 pm)
QUOTE
(EastieTrekker @ Nov. 20 2012, 2:11 pm)
QUOTE
(Ben2World @ Nov. 20 2012, 12:09 am)
QUOTE Businesses are just doing their bit to 'satisfy demand'. To me, it's a sad testament to how we as a society are prioritizing lately... I disagree. There's always some level of residual demand in this country for the people who don't care much for family time, and just want to get out of the house for a bit and do some shopping. Opening early (say 4:00AM or 5:00AM on Black Friday) is well enough to satisfy the demand of any given radius surrounding a shopping center. The whole opening earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving (and letting that bleed into the actual Black Friday event) is just a strategy retailers are using to extract every last dollar that they can from consumers. "Come in Thursday and beat the crowds"; "Come in Thursday for a deal that we won't be having on Friday". If all retailers stayed closed on Thanksgiving. I am quite confident that there will be enough supply on Friday to serve every last consumer who so desires to shop that day. Edit: I think the fact that these "protests" are catching airtime in the media is an example of how our society is getting sick of priorities that retailers project onto American consumers Well, more effective than any form of protest is to have those stores open -- with no shoppers showing up!! Bet they won't do it again! We collectively have only ourselves to blame. For better and for worse, we are one gigantic consumer society. To blame the stores for our current state is like blaming McD for our extra weight. Not directed at you at all but just making a general statement -- we as a society seem to be demanding more and more 'freedom' -- to do whatever the heck we want -- don't anyone tell us what we should or shouldn't do -- while acknowledging less and less personal responsibility over anything...
I agree that the inevitable and inexorable creep of commercialization into our daily, private and traditional (ie holiday) lives is a major bummer. I thought weddings were bad (commercialized) until I had a son. There are also 90+ M single Americans for whom the holidays may not be as family-intensive, and thus may present an opportunity for more quotidian pursuits. So I get why retailers continue to hound us.
But seriously, how hard is it to say "no" to consumption? We are bombarded with pro-consumption messages, but is that hard to turn off the tv, delete the spam, avoid the mall, and do something else?
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BillBab
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Posted on: Nov. 28 2012, 7:17 am |
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Funny how something like 1/10 of one percent of employees protested
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article....ng.html
I guess the good news is that poor people will still be able to avoid groceries and prescriptions
Curse them (WM) for employing all those people
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"Asking liberals where wages and prices come from is like asking six-year-olds where babies come from."
Thomas Sowell
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| Post Number: 20
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Hungry Jack
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Posted on: Nov. 28 2012, 3:02 pm |
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(Ben2World @ Nov. 27 2012, 2:42 pm)
QUOTE
(Hungry Jack @ Nov. 26 2012, 1:07 pm)
QUOTE But seriously, how hard is it to say "no" to consumption? We are bombarded with pro-consumption messages, but is that hard to turn off the tv, delete the spam, avoid the mall, and do something else? How hard? Perhaps our 2011 $1.3 TRILLION federal budget deficit and our $588 BILLION trade deficit will illustrate the answer. We are now in our 3rd generation of post-WWII prosperity -- and we are collectively a spoiled bunch in huge denials. We know we have problems -- but most of us prefer to point fingers at the other side of the aisle while overlooking our own ugly selves.
Agreed.
The Economist sums it up nicely by stating that we tax like a small government nation but spend and entitle like a big government nation. Something has to give, perhaps both.
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| Post Number: 21
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star
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Posted on: Nov. 30 2012, 12:02 pm |
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It's not just Walmart workers noticing they're being underpaid.
http://m.theatlantic.com/busines....4
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If I wanted to live in a dictatorship I would have picked a place with shorter winters.
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| Post Number: 22
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muttpacker
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Posted on: Nov. 30 2012, 12:19 pm |
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What ever happened to going for Thanksgiving dinner, tolerating family as long as is humanly possible, and hitting a bar that night to drink away the bad taste left in your mouth by mom's cranberry relish and relentless nagging?
If you're going to spend money on Thanksgiving, it should be used to kill memories and brain cells. Not on a sale item that was 15% cheaper 2 months ago, anyway.
C'mon America... Celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving by getting plowed, not snowed!!
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Ignorant is temporary. Stupid is permanent. Choosing to be ignorant is stupid.
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