As retailers nationwide adjust their holiday schedules to squeeze even more out of Black Friday, Walmart faces additional challenges. For many retailers it’s not even Black Friday anymore, but Black Thursday, as many have rolled forward the start of their sales. Target is opening stores this year three hours earlier than in past years, at 9pm on Thanksgiving evening, Walmart will begin its sales at 8pm on Thanksgiving and many other major retailers have already begun their sale efforts, way in advance of Black Friday. But while the ‘Black’ in Black Friday has traditionally signified the black ink of retailer profits associated with holiday shopping, this year it will hold new meaning for Walmart.
Many workers are none too keen on how an earlier kickoff to Black Friday will impact their own holiday family plans and as early as last Thursday Walmart saw the first wave of employee unrest as they suffered through a series of protests and strikes by disgruntled workers. The unrest is not isolated to the company’s stores, but also includes Walmart warehouse employees. The protests have been organized by an organization known as OUR Walmart, which is not the Walmart employees labor union, but supposedly has relationships with union leadership.
The root of Walmart employees dissatisfaction with working at Walmart are notoriously low wages. One Walmart worker complained that although she works as a customer service manager she makes only about $14,000 a year and her family has to supplement her income with food stamps to get by. This, in spite of being a manager at one of the biggest corporations in the world.
Strikes started in Seattle at six Walmart stores, initially involving about thirty employees, but threats have indicated there will be nationwide walkouts this week. Walmart responded in typical big company fashion, filing a complaint with a federal agency claiming violations of the National Labor Relations Act, unlawful organizing practices and threatening workers who are considering walking out. David Tovar, a Walmart spokesman, said to the media, “If [the store employees] are scheduled to work, we expect them to show up and do their job. If they don’t, depending on the circumstances, there could be consequences,” Needless to say, the company’s response to employee dissatisfaction did nothing to build goodwill or show any indication they intended to negotiate with employees.
OUR Walmart claims to have about a thousand events planned nationwide, this week alone, and they have gained tons of public support via social media outlets. President of OUR Walmart, Dan Schlademan said, “We remain focused like a laser about trying to build a bigger coalition and support workers as they build their organizations to challenge Wal-Mart stores.” Meanwhile, Walmart mounts its legal offensive in an effort to divert what could be a disastrous holiday season if large scale walkouts materialize.
With ever increasing threats from online retailers and the growing trend of showrooming continuing to take its toll on brick and mortar retailers, any disruption in anticipated holiday shopping could have huge negative consequences. What remains to be seen is who will be hit harder, Walmart or its employees.
