A painting portraying the first Thanksgiving
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is traditionally the most popular shopping day of the year. Last year, Americans spent a record $52.4 billion on that day.
But a number of major retailers are deciding to open instead on Thanksgiving Day itself, forcing many of their employees to choose between their jobs and their families.
Here’s a short list of some of the retailers who are making this anti-worker move:
– Wal-Mart: This retail behemoth — which is also facing walkouts on Black Friday — will be opening on 8 P.M. Thanksgiving Day.
– Toys R’ Us: This retailer will be matching Wal-Mart’s ultra-early opening time.
– Sears: Sears is matching Wal-Mart and Toys R’Us by having Thursday “door busters.”
– Target: Target will be opening at 9 P.M. on Thanksgiving.
– K-Mart: K-Mart has transformed its Black Friday into a Thanksgiving sale that lasts from Thanksgiving through Saturday.
This move by retailers to start their sales on Thanksgiving Day will needlessly be pulling workers away from their families on a day Americans have come to know as a well-deserved day off. But consumers can vote with their dollars and choose to shop only at locations where workers are not being made to work on this holiday.
Actually Walmart opens at 7:00 AM on Thanksgiving day, the sales start at 8:00 PM. Many of us have to work 12 hour overnight shifts. I have to work from 5:00 PM Thursday to 5:00 AM Friday.
This is just the need for greed!!!!
Yes, the greed of American shoppers who don’t care if other people enjoy their holidays. Even if stores open at 8:00am on Black Friday, do you know how early the employees have to get there? And do you realize how early they have to cut their Thanksgiving evening in order to get to work at 4:00am? If shoppers didn’t turn this day into such a circus, then stores wouldn’t have to respond this way. If a company posts weak numbers for Black Friday, then Wall Street responds in a negative way and shareholders don’t like that.
We need to boycott all these stores- this is greed to the extreme.
I used to work for a store that was open all day Thanksgiving (and all other holidays except Christmas) and working was offered on a volunteer basis. I loved it because I was single, was often lonely on holidays, and needed money badly. I got paid for the holiday (which all ppl did whether or not they worked) AND got time and a half for actual hours worked…. a fat check. I loved doing it and was first to sign up! Maybe you should check to see if employees at any store like it!
My niece works at walmart… and the law states that you must have 7 hours between shifts… but her walmart is making people get off on Thanksgiving at midnight and come back at 5am on Black friday! Freakin nuts!