Archived Our Store Newsletter

[Mamabear]

They already know about us and our efforts, I think we'll be alright.

Cocky much.

 

[BoxCutter]

I guess you don't need more than one or two shifts a week if you have other income from somewhere else.

If he is with a union, he's not very good at convincing anyone to join. It is individuals like this that turn people off to unions. Which, in my opinion, is too bad.

Now can we lock up these threads?

 

[IWishIKnew]

I feel a TM could bring up "Hostile work, work environment", and management would GLADLY, intervene on the issue, and if it is as serious as it sounds, probably get that TM promoted (lol).

This is somewhat pedantic, but hostile work environment is specific to discrimination laws, and irritating your coworkers doesn't fit. Retaliating against workers trying to organize, however, is quite clearly forbidden under federal law, so Target can't fire them for that, no matter how much it irritates other TMs.

That's not to say that Target can't fire them, but will need to be even more scrupulous in documenting the reasons, in case of a complaint or lawsuit.

 

[Mamabear]

No because I wasn't the only one who's hours were cut back, so in this instance it's not discrimination.

Why don't you want democracy in the workplace? You spend more time there than the voting booth.

Because it would fail. It's a business. The sole purpose of its existence is to make money. The sole purpose for you going there is to make money . So we're all on the same page. You're not on some kind of noble mission for going to work. You go to make money. Stop acting like your so above it all. You're there for the same reason Target is, to make money If they are making money I'm making money . If they're not making money then I'm not making money . It's a pretty simple process .

 

[commiecorvus]

Because it would fail. It's a business. The sole purpose of its existence is to make money. The sole purpose for you going there is to make money . So we're all on the same page. You're not on some kind of noble mission for going to work. You go to make money. Stop acting like your so above it all. You're there for the same reason Target is, to make money If they are making money I'm making money . If they're not making money then I'm not making money . It's a pretty simple process .

There are many companies in America that treat their employees well and make money too.
Costco, Wegmans, etc.
Europe countries like Sweden don't have minimum wage laws, but all wages are based on collective bargaining (those evil unions). Nearly all Swedish citizens belong to one of about 60 trade unions and 50 employers' organizations that negotiate wage rates for regular hourly work, salaries and overtime. The minimum wage tends to hover near 60-70% of the average wage in Sweden. Swedish law limits the workweek to 40 hours, just like in the U.S. However, it also dictates that all workers are entitled to 25 paid vacation days and 16 additional public holidays each year, which is far more generous than the U.S. standard. Denmark is the same way with most of the workers represented by a union and the lowest pay set at about $20.00 an hour.
Their companies make money just fine, in fact many are some of the top in the world, they just don't feel like they have to screw their workers.

 

[IWishIKnew]

The American business model is based on maximizing shareholder value; in Europe, maximizing stakeholder value. Shareholders = large shareholders who benefit from large profit margins. Stakeholders = shareholders, employees, communities, etc. so the mindset is generally different and maximizing corporate profits aren't the end-all, be-all and corporations shouldn't, say, spend years poisoning their city's water supply or outsource entire divisions so the dividend goes up by $.03 per share this quarter and the CEO can get a $50 million bonus. European corporations are far from perfect, to be sure, but at least there's some accountability to people other than the 1%.

Good companies recognize that if you treat employees well, you attract better employees who tend to stick around longer, and that type of stability is better in the long-term, but our entire economy is built to meet this quarter's analyst forecasts so when push comes to shove most public companies will do everything they can to meet forecasts to avoid their stock price/corporate value from heading to the toilet. It's a fucking ridiculous system. Yes, businesses should make money, but for whom? When corporations are profitable there should be more money to pay higher wages and increase benefits and all that, but we're so thoroughly brainwashed in this country since the Reagan era that people actually believe that trickle-down economics exists or corporations will spread the wealth unless forced to do so when every economic statistic in the past 30+ years shows otherwise. And so all of us have to figure out how to survive with less.

This isn't to say anything about Target, per se--they're not perfect but they do some good things. The system fucking sucks, and I don't know if we're going to see significant changes without significant hardship and maybe even bloodshed over the next few decades.

 

[pellinore]

While I like the idea of a store newsletter, I don't quite like the main message that you are sending out. I think that it is common knowledge that the power of the dollar, living wages, and changing business needs do not seem to meet the needs of workers, not just at Target but most businesses that we all are familiar with.

I would like to think that there is a more relaxed newsletter that would be more helpful to your store and other TMs as well. Generally, a newsletter tends to "tell" what is going on and looks for feedback from its readers. Seems to me that this first newsletter is a way of attacking the larger business world and not very helpful to promoting communication within your store.

I do like the fact that you have two TMs that talk about their positions and their likes and dislikes.....too bad your newsletter doesn't focus more on TMs and the great qualities of your store.

Perhaps you might want to re-think what the goal and purpose of your newsletter is........unity Vs. separation......communication Vs. alienation......team building Vs. pulling apart......or just a chance to share information with others and have some fun.

 

[Mamabear]

There are many companies in America that treat their employees well and make money too.
Costco, Wegmans, etc.
Europe countries like Sweden don't have minimum wage laws, but all wages are based on collective bargaining (those evil unions). Nearly all Swedish citizens belong to one of about 60 trade unions and 50 employers' organizations that negotiate wage rates for regular hourly work, salaries and overtime. The minimum wage tends to hover near 60-70% of the average wage in Sweden. Swedish law limits the workweek to 40 hours, just like in the U.S. However, it also dictates that all workers are entitled to 25 paid vacation days and 16 additional public holidays each year, which is far more generous than the U.S. standard. Denmark is the same way with most of the workers represented by a union and the lowest pay set at about $20.00 an hour.
Their companies make money just fine, in fact many are some of the top in the world, they just don't feel like they have to screw their workers.

I believe target does treat it's employees well and make money to. Some of the quotes above though seem to forget they are in fact a business that is their actual point of being there

 

[commiecorvus]

I believe target does treat it's employees well and make money to. Some of the quotes above though seem to forget they are in fact a business that is their actual point of being there

Actually there is a fine difference, the actual point for Spot is to make their stockholders money.
The stores can make money but if the stockholders aren't getting their big payouts then the company isn't a success by their standards.
Which is why you can see situations of massive layoffs being used to drive up the stock price, even though it puts the other employees of the business in question in a terrible position.
There are reports that some of the Costco shareholders have tried to get the president of the company to cut back on the wages, number of full time employees, and do more union busting even though the stores are making money.
He has told them that it will happen over his dead body, which worries me.
Will Costco continue to be a decent place to work when he is no longer in charge or will stockholder capitalism takeover?
The system is amoral.
It can pretend to have values but those are based largely on calculated risks meant to make a profit.

 

[TargetWrkrsUnite]

A corporation seeking profits is not some apolitical issue, but is the crux of the matter in our class divided society, speaking on that and critiquing that is the bare minimum needed for workers to organize themselves and change the power dynamics in store and in society at large. Again some of yall want to conflate the interests of the corporation and the financial institutions that are its primary shareholders as your own as workers, when in reality they are totally opposed to one another. If you want to see the dynamics change it's only going to happen if rank and file workers decide to take ownership of their labor and assert ourselves and our interests collectively. If there's no struggle, there is no progress. Anyways, stay tuned for our next store newsletter.

 

[TM2]

I hope spot will get him.

They will, but I'm sure they're going to be incredibly careful about it. I wouldn't be surprised if nrvstrikes true desire was just to make some money from a wrongful termination settlement. I can't imagine he genuinely believed that he'd join Target and unionize them.