Black Friday

Today is Black Friday, a time where Americans act like they have never seen a sale in their life and race around the stores like crazy people in the middle of the night. I hate crowds and avoid shopping on this day...to me, no sale is worth possibly being trampled by an angry shopper on a mission. However, thinking about Black Friday made me realize that there are a ton of employees who have to work these same ungodly hours the day after Thanksgiving. If they are lucky enough to get Thanksgiving day off, they may have to be in to work as early as 12am the next day, so instead of spending time with their families on Thanksgiving day, they will have to be sleeping so they can get up for work. I read an article on the United Food and Commercial Workers Union website talking about how workers at Walmart are taking a stand against the company trying to silence their voices. It seems as though employees are often forced to work holidays such as Thanksgiving rather than spend time with their families. When they speak up against it, Walmart may give them an even crazier schedule, cut their hours, or in some cases, fire them. I will attach the link to the article at the bottom of this post for further reading. I am a frequent shopper of Walmart - not because I support their practices, but because as a graduate student, I am pretty poor and Walmart is typically the most affordable place for me to purchase many items. However, in an attempt to take a stand with the employees of Walmart, I will attempt to shop there much less and start buying from stores who treat their employees fairly.

http://www.ufcw.org/2012/11/15/walmart-workers-from-stores-and-warehouses-begin-to-strike/