Q: My best friend works in retail. She was hoping her seniority would protect her and she would “only” have to work the 1 am shift for Black Sunday but, she found out a few days before Thanksgiving, that she had to work the 3pm shift on the actual holiday. I feel terrible the family now has to re-schedule Thanksgiving dinner to a morning “brunch” and then she has to rush out. Every year stores race to open earlier, which might be great for retailers and shoppers, but what about the workers?
A: Having to work on Thanksgiving Day is nothing new. About 1 in 4 American workers will work during the holidays, staffing the basic infrastructure needed to keep things running. So if you’re a doctor, police officer, firefighter, journalist or hotdog vendor at a football game, you know that it comes with the territory. However what IS new, is that retail workers are now joining their ranks.
I used to think wee-hour store openings on Black Friday (with the ensuing craziness that caused an employee to be trampled to death in 2008) were bad enough. It turns out, those were the good-old-days. With retailers competing for earlier and earlier shopping on Thanksgiving day, they’re causing havoc on family dinner plans for their workers.
Compared to other workers who traditionally had to work the holiday, retail workers have some added disadvantages: First, they often work part-time, have unpredictable hours, which often results in little notice about schedule changes (like your friend). Stress city. Second, even when they are paid time and a half they’re still mostly low-wage earners. Third, they have fewer options to say no, in some places, being explicitly told they’ll be fired if they don’t show up to work.
I’m saddened to see this trend, not just because of the effect it’s having on the family lives of the workers, but also for what it says about us as we increasingly become a society of consumers.
Thanksgiving Day used to mean home, food, friends, family and counting our blessings. Unfortunately there are enough people out there willing to go shopping and count their bargains instead.
© Copyright Eva Del Rio
