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It’s Business As Usual For Many Workers On Thanksgiving
The corporate world has increasingly asked more and more from its employees. Whether it’s additional productivity, less pay or forcing workers to sign a non-compete agreement, there seems to be no end to the concessions that need to be made by hardworking Americans.
As the calendar inches towards the ever-expanding holiday retail season, another example of the lengths big business will go is rearing its ugly head again. Department store giant Macy’s announced last week it would open Thanksgiving night at 6 p.m., forcing workers to leave their family at the dinner table during one of the nation’s most sacred holidays. That’s two hours earlier than last year.
Of course, Macy’s is far from alone in doing so. Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kmart have also announced they will open Thanksgiving, and experts agree that other retailers are likely to follow suit. This, despite the public outcry such openings caused last year.
Companies are deciding to ruin the holiday supposedly because they believe it will make them more money, which in turn will appease shareholders. But there is a real question about whether that is actually happening. In fact, many experts have suggested that the early openings are only displacing sales they would have happened the next day or later in the holiday shopping season. So there is a good case to be made that all of this is being done for naught and that companies are only jumping into this because they see their competitors doing the same.
Thankfully, there are some corporations who are saying no to this invasion on family time. Costco announced this week it will remain closed on the holiday because its employees “deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families.” They joined four other chain stores – REI, Burlington, American Girl and Dillard’s — which have also announced they will remain closed on the holiday as well.
At a time when companies are already ringing up record profits, it’s simply un-American to force employees to leave family celebrations so they can open a store for a few hours. Tradition has a role to play in the U.S., and it is hard to see how thankful corporations are being of this nation’s history when they choose to act like it is business as usual.