As I told you last month, Target is planning to open even earlier this Black Friday - at midnight, to be exact. Well now, a Target employee has launched a protest against the idea, saying the demand on its employees is going a step too far.
Target said it would open its doors five hours earlier this year for Black Friday shoppers. Shown here are shoppers waiting for the Ann Arbor, MI Target store to open on Black Friday last year.
But Target employee Anthony Hardwick says that's unfair to employees who want to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. More than 6,700 people have already signed his petition on advocacy website Change.org, calling for Target to reverse its decision. Hardwick, who works for a Target store in Nebraska, hopes to get 50,000 signatures.
"With the midnight opening, employees like myself will have to leave for work right in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner," Hardwick said in a statement. "We don't mind hard work, but cutting into our holidays is a step too far."
In response, Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said the retailer will pay employees who work on Thanksgiving with holiday pay and its store leaders each year work with employees to accommodate personal scheduling needs. "Target cares about the well-being of our team members throughout the year," Snyder said.
I personally think Target - as well as other retailers opening at midnight, and especially Walmart announcing they'll open at 10pm on Thanksgiving Day - have gone too far with this one. Black Friday has merged crossed the line into the holiday, and this is starting a dangerous trend of stores not closing at all on Thanksgiving in future years.
3 comments:
They certainly aren't opening early for shoppers like me. I have not shopped Black Friday or that entire weekend in at least 20 years. I can't put up with the insanity, traffic and crowds.
Karen, I'm with you! I don't shop on Black Friday either.
I think I'm cynical when it comes to the plight of "working over holidays." I used to work in sports and television production. You just knew that, when everyone else was at home, you still worked. We had NO official holidays - just an overall total of about two weeks vacation when starting. People with seniority or unessential gigs got the traditional holidays off.
I still remember getting Thanksgiving via the CNN cafeteria. Pretty okay. I was there over Christmas too. It wasn't like I was making much money, as entertainment is very "have, have not." And believe me, it's still work even if it looks cool from the outside.
So...yeah. Just think, the Lions and Cowboys franchises are always working on Thanksgiving - just like all the local news people.
The only argument is that this new schedule was effectively "sprung" on employees. I don't know. A lot of people would be happy to have a job...
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