With Walmart and several other big box stores (i.e. Sears, Target) opening their doors on Thanksgiving evening instead of early Friday morning in a possibly need-to-be-renamed Black Thursday cash grab (or maybe they will take the path of the weird a la the Big Ten Conference that now has 14 member schools), some employees have had enough.
Although most reports state that there were more supporters and hopeful union organizers on the picket lines than actual employees, some employees did walk off their shift and join the protesters to campaign for better working conditions. Walmart seemed rather dismissive (surprised?) of the whole concerted-activity thing, confidently stating that far less than 1/2 of a percent of their over one million employees would participate in the seemingly futile exercise against corporate greed and worker domination. It should be noted that both the company and workers have filed NLRB charges to seek a decision on whether it is permissible for these non unionized employees to strike and impair business and, likewise, whether it is permissible for the company to terminate or otherwise discipline the involved employees.
This just in: Walmart managers seen counting huge garbage bags full of cash right in front of the entrance doors as shivering protesters and now ex-employees glare at the taunting with disbelief and despair. Okay, not really, but it would have made for an interesting twist!
Perhaps Walmart could have put this whole thing to rest by simply serving a turkey dinner to the protesters instead of ignoring them like the hoards of deal-seeking customers were doing (and paying triple-time to the Thanksgiving day workers would be a rather kind-hearted thing to do too). Wouldn't that have been a very nice gesture; to feed them and break bread with them on Thanksgiving - big family style?! And it would have made perfect sense and added extra humanity to the oft-times faceless corporation. Indeed, it would have gone a long way towards proving that corporations really are people too!
Although most reports state that there were more supporters and hopeful union organizers on the picket lines than actual employees, some employees did walk off their shift and join the protesters to campaign for better working conditions. Walmart seemed rather dismissive (surprised?) of the whole concerted-activity thing, confidently stating that far less than 1/2 of a percent of their over one million employees would participate in the seemingly futile exercise against corporate greed and worker domination. It should be noted that both the company and workers have filed NLRB charges to seek a decision on whether it is permissible for these non unionized employees to strike and impair business and, likewise, whether it is permissible for the company to terminate or otherwise discipline the involved employees.
This just in: Walmart managers seen counting huge garbage bags full of cash right in front of the entrance doors as shivering protesters and now ex-employees glare at the taunting with disbelief and despair. Okay, not really, but it would have made for an interesting twist!
Perhaps Walmart could have put this whole thing to rest by simply serving a turkey dinner to the protesters instead of ignoring them like the hoards of deal-seeking customers were doing (and paying triple-time to the Thanksgiving day workers would be a rather kind-hearted thing to do too). Wouldn't that have been a very nice gesture; to feed them and break bread with them on Thanksgiving - big family style?! And it would have made perfect sense and added extra humanity to the oft-times faceless corporation. Indeed, it would have gone a long way towards proving that corporations really are people too!
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