TODAY'S RANT: Working on Thanksgiving
I am bemused by the social media uproar over certain chain stores having the temerity, the gall, to remain open on Thanksgiving, thereby depriving their workers of a holiday they "deserve." Really?
Please understand, I am a lifelong Liberal and proud of it. I believe in the Unions and have been in the past, and for many years, a Union member. But I also spent a considerable portion of my young adult years in retail. Anyone who works retail will confirm the opinion that it is generally thankless, low-paying, and at times grueling work. Nevertheless it is a job.
Why does anyone "deserve" this particular holiday? Why not July 4th or Labor Day? How about President's Day or Martin Luther King Day? These are all days people might spend with their families but instead go to work.
Perhaps all of our uniformed men and women: Firefighters, Police, Nurses, Physicians, ought to take the day off? I know the argument; we need these people to maintain essential services. We do not need to shop at Walmart. But the chain stores exist to make money for their shareholders. The economy is still fragile. The workers generally can use the extra money.
No one forces people to accept particular jobs. Everyone of the workers at all of the stores opening on Thanksgiving signed on for whatever hours the companies determine best for business. If that includes Thanksgiving, so be it. If this offends you and you're an employee; quit. If it offends you and you're a consumer, don't shop there. I have a strong sense however that all of the people who state they won't shop on Thanksgiving have the luxory of having enough disposable income that they don't need the few dollars they might save by the "Door Buster" or "Early Bird" specials. But millions of people DO need these price breaks and those extra dollars might translate into signifigant good for their families.
Instead of rallying around this empty, feel good project of meaningless protest, how about insisting that all retail workers make a living wage; say $15 per hour and time and a half for holidays? Let's start a petition affirming that we will gladly pay higher prices to support these workers. Retail workers need decent wages and working conditions far more than they need to gorge themselves on Turkey on Thanksgiving. Fighting for more money for workers, even if it means higher prices, is fighting for meaningful cultural change. Fighting so people don't have to work on a holiday is an empty, sanctimonious, feel good shoW of ersatz support for reatil workers that will do nothing to change the culture of extreme income inequality, nor will it improve anyone's life.
Give it a rest.
Thank you, carry on.
Please understand, I am a lifelong Liberal and proud of it. I believe in the Unions and have been in the past, and for many years, a Union member. But I also spent a considerable portion of my young adult years in retail. Anyone who works retail will confirm the opinion that it is generally thankless, low-paying, and at times grueling work. Nevertheless it is a job.
Why does anyone "deserve" this particular holiday? Why not July 4th or Labor Day? How about President's Day or Martin Luther King Day? These are all days people might spend with their families but instead go to work.
Perhaps all of our uniformed men and women: Firefighters, Police, Nurses, Physicians, ought to take the day off? I know the argument; we need these people to maintain essential services. We do not need to shop at Walmart. But the chain stores exist to make money for their shareholders. The economy is still fragile. The workers generally can use the extra money.
No one forces people to accept particular jobs. Everyone of the workers at all of the stores opening on Thanksgiving signed on for whatever hours the companies determine best for business. If that includes Thanksgiving, so be it. If this offends you and you're an employee; quit. If it offends you and you're a consumer, don't shop there. I have a strong sense however that all of the people who state they won't shop on Thanksgiving have the luxory of having enough disposable income that they don't need the few dollars they might save by the "Door Buster" or "Early Bird" specials. But millions of people DO need these price breaks and those extra dollars might translate into signifigant good for their families.
Instead of rallying around this empty, feel good project of meaningless protest, how about insisting that all retail workers make a living wage; say $15 per hour and time and a half for holidays? Let's start a petition affirming that we will gladly pay higher prices to support these workers. Retail workers need decent wages and working conditions far more than they need to gorge themselves on Turkey on Thanksgiving. Fighting for more money for workers, even if it means higher prices, is fighting for meaningful cultural change. Fighting so people don't have to work on a holiday is an empty, sanctimonious, feel good shoW of ersatz support for reatil workers that will do nothing to change the culture of extreme income inequality, nor will it improve anyone's life.
Give it a rest.
Thank you, carry on.
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