Purple Monkey Dishwasher

[DerangedHermit]

So the local union for my company voted to authorize a strike this past week, as the contract expires over the weekend. You want to know what my company does? Schedules impromptu "Associate Appreciation Days" for tomorrow. "We want to gut your benefits due to Obamacare, but here, have some free food."

Not that I expect it to get to the point of an actual strike, but still...

[MoonCat]

Sounds like the time our managers pulled some observation shit on us (which the chief steward warned them was problematic) and after handing out a sickeningly-cheerful memo explaining how great this observational stuff was, they ordered a pizza lunch for the office.

Only one staffer partook of the lunch. The rest of us spurned it as a demonstration of solidarity against the contract violation. A manager was heard to announce (loudly) that we were "ungrateful fuckers."

[Estil]

I never did understand the idea of Customer or Associate Appreciation Days. Aren't you supposed to do that every day?

[Raveni]

How would observation be problematic or a contract violation?

[Dreamstalker]

Estil, I don't get these appreciation days things either...if you really appreciate us, then do something to get rid of the scammers and SCs.

The company seems to like to come up with 'solutions' at the last possible second (my union was thisclose to striking earlier this year). Any word?

[DerangedHermit]

Estil, I don't get these appreciation days things either...if you really appreciate us, then do something to get rid of the scammers and SCs.

The company seems to like to come up with 'solutions' at the last possible second (my union was thisclose to striking earlier this year). Any word?

Nothing yet, although I would imagine that either the union is using the strike threat as the Sword of Damocles hanging over Thanksgiving...or that they'll just fold faster than Superman on laundry day.

[wagegoth]

My email to the giant toy company with the african animal mascot:

I just wanted to let you know that I will not be shopping in your stores for the foreseeable future. The decision to open at 5 pm on Thanksgiving disgusts and angers me. Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, one celebrated by people of all faths and none; a holiday for families to gather.

The executives who made this decision will, I'm sure, be spending the day, and probably an extended weekend, with their families. They will not be giving up their holiday to work on what is probably the worst day for retail employees in the U.S. I'm sure they won't give a second thought about their employees, instead focusing on the sales numbers when they review them the following week.

When these executives give up their holiday to come in and work beside the customer service representatives, I might reconsider. In the meantime, I have too many other places to spend my money for gifts.

Their response:

Hi [wagegoth]:
Thank you for your feedback regarding our decision to open our stores on Thanksgiving evening. Please be assured that we have worked to provide a fun, exciting and rewarding environment for our employees and customers as we officially kick off the holiday shopping season.
We appreciate you taking the time to write to us, and value your thoughts. We will be sure to pass your comments on to our Store Operations team for review.
Sincerely,
Aida 4316

*Yeah, right, sure, fun for fucking everyone that doesn't have to work.

[raudf]

Used to be a company did something to show appreciation for the workers who had just been through what was hell *coughblackfridaycough*. Now, it's more a "We've got bad news, but hey, here's free food!" I saw the former at the repair center and the latter at the Hell Mart.

It's like management thought that all we needed to forgive them was free food. Or maybe they thought they weren't paying us enough to be able to buy our own groceries, so the free food would buy us off? Not that it wasn't far from the truth, mind...