The entire inbound team walked out this morning.

[purplenurple]

I'm an inbound and GM team member and we've had a particularly brutal Q4 so far. In the six years that I've been working here, we've never been hit this hard with toy freight. Or backroom is crowded with so many pallets of toys and for the past couple of weeks, our unload has ended with all team members helping to push in toys instead of their assigned areas. For today's 4 AM unload, we walked into the backroom with about two days worth of untouched freight, but our inbound leader just had us jump straight into unloading a nearly 3000 piece truck. Our unloads typically don't last longer than an hour and a half, but that 90 minute mark was where we were at when he started nearing the halfway point of the truck. Our inbound leader and two other TL's were helping unload, but then our SD got on the walkie and announced that breakfast burritos were waiting in the TL office and that all TL's were to report to the office for their TL breakfast. The leaders on the unload were happy to leave the unload without even giving the rest of us instructions on how to unload when we were running out of vehicles to use.

It didn't take long before we were completely out of flatbeds and U-boats. Everyone on the inbound team just stood around and left freight on the line while trying to figure out where to sort all of it. I've been on the team the longest and I was the one trying to calm everyone down and come up with a plan. I wanted to pull from the giant stack of wood pallets by the receiving desk, but our receiver has always been very protective of her pallets and she doesn't like them being used for anything other than receiving purposes. I argued with her that we needed the pallets more than her, but she wouldn't budge. I gave up because she's engaged to one of our front end TL's and I figured that I didn't need to piss him off. So the whole inbound team had all of this unloaded freight with nowhere to put it and none of the leaders were responding to our desperate calls for them on our walkies. It reached a point where one girl on the team just said that she was walking out and everyone else seemed fine with that, including me. So the entire inbound team ended up leaving just a few hours into our shift and left a half-filled truck with freight lying all over the floor and on the line.

I just went home and napped for a couple of hours and woke up to two missed calls from the store, but no voice mail left. I have the day off tomorrow, but we're all going in on Thursday for our next inbound shift and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little concerned. I feel a little bad, but then I think about how our store has been since roughly before the Holidays. For as long as I've been here, every weekend starting with Black Friday has always had the break room filled with all sorts of catered food for the team. We've even had some years where the food starts coming in starting with the first weekend of November. This store really used to take care of us for Q4, but so far this year, we've only gotten our Black Friday food, which consisted of cups of Ramen noodles and Ritz crackers requisitioned from the floor. And meanwhile, the entire leadership team had the entire Black Friday weekend of catered food like Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse. Virtually every TM in every department has felt hung out to dry so far during Q4 and I think this morning's incident was the last straw. But now I'm here wondering what kind of trouble the team could realistically could into over this incident. Could we all be fired? Would we get into any trouble at all or would the SD actually reflect on how things have been and take pity on us? I know that's probably wishful thinking on my part, but still, what's everyone else's thoughts on this?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

i feel sorry for you & fellow tm's. the mgt is giving you the shaft on support & food. document all events.

 

[redeye58]

....so the TLs all left in a stampede for breakfast tacos & left the rest of the team hanging?
I'd wager there were a LOT of TLs having to finish up the mess they left behind.

 

[Noiinteam]

Wow! This is shocking. I worked the line for 4 years and now work the floor. Your leadership sucks to put you guys in that position and walk away. I hope they all choked on their breakfast

 

[Him]

I'm an inbound and GM team member and we've had a particularly brutal Q4 so far. In the six years that I've been working here, we've never been hit this hard with toy freight. Or backroom is crowded with so many pallets of toys and for the past couple of weeks, our unload has ended with all team members helping to push in toys instead of their assigned areas. For today's 4 AM unload, we walked into the backroom with about two days worth of untouched freight, but our inbound leader just had us jump straight into unloading a nearly 3000 piece truck. Our unloads typically don't last longer than an hour and a half, but that 90 minute mark was where we were at when he started nearing the halfway point of the truck. Our inbound leader and two other TL's were helping unload, but then our SD got on the walkie and announced that breakfast burritos were waiting in the TL office and that all TL's were to report to the office for their TL breakfast. The leaders on the unload were happy to leave the unload without even giving the rest of us instructions on how to unload when we were running out of vehicles to use.

It didn't take long before we were completely out of flatbeds and U-boats. Everyone on the inbound team just stood around and left freight on the line while trying to figure out where to sort all of it. I've been on the team the longest and I was the one trying to calm everyone down and come up with a plan. I wanted to pull from the giant stack of wood pallets by the receiving desk, but our receiver has always been very protective of her pallets and she doesn't like them being used for anything other than receiving purposes. I argued with her that we needed the pallets more than her, but she wouldn't budge. I gave up because she's engaged to one of our front end TL's and I figured that I didn't need to piss him off. So the whole inbound team had all of this unloaded freight with nowhere to put it and none of the leaders were responding to our desperate calls for them on our walkies. It reached a point where one girl on the team just said that she was walking out and everyone else seemed fine with that, including me. So the entire inbound team ended up leaving just a few hours into our shift and left a half-filled truck with freight lying all over the floor and on the line.

I just went home and napped for a couple of hours and woke up to two missed calls from the store, but no voice mail left. I have the day off tomorrow, but we're all going in on Thursday for our next inbound shift and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little concerned. I feel a little bad, but then I think about how our store has been since roughly before the Holidays. For as long as I've been here, every weekend starting with Black Friday has always had the break room filled with all sorts of catered food for the team. We've even had some years where the food starts coming in starting with the first weekend of November. This store really used to take care of us for Q4, but so far this year, we've only gotten our Black Friday food, which consisted of cups of Ramen noodles and Ritz crackers requisitioned from the floor. And meanwhile, the entire leadership team had the entire Black Friday weekend of catered food like Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse. Virtually every TM in every department has felt hung out to dry so far during Q4 and I think this morning's incident was the last straw. But now I'm here wondering what kind of trouble the team could realistically could into over this incident. Could we all be fired? Would we get into any trouble at all or would the SD actually reflect on how things have been and take pity on us? I know that's probably wishful thinking on my part, but still, what's everyone else's thoughts on this?

I can’t even say that this is a one off thing because you’ve shared that your store 🏬 was in bad shape BEFORE said day. Your Leadership leaving you all to “fend for yourself” is a good way to have your entire Target 🎯 store closed for good. I’m not saying this to scare you as you did everything in your power and job description. Even when you think no one is “watching”, they are. Just be ready for the “aftermath” on your next schedule shift. If your store does huddles, I’m sure it’s going to be a talking point. Hope things get better ❤️‍🩹 rather than worst.

 

[Ringwraith917]

I'm an inbound and GM team member and we've had a particularly brutal Q4 so far. In the six years that I've been working here, we've never been hit this hard with toy freight. Or backroom is crowded with so many pallets of toys and for the past couple of weeks, our unload has ended with all team members helping to push in toys instead of their assigned areas. For today's 4 AM unload, we walked into the backroom with about two days worth of untouched freight, but our inbound leader just had us jump straight into unloading a nearly 3000 piece truck. Our unloads typically don't last longer than an hour and a half, but that 90 minute mark was where we were at when he started nearing the halfway point of the truck. Our inbound leader and two other TL's were helping unload, but then our SD got on the walkie and announced that breakfast burritos were waiting in the TL office and that all TL's were to report to the office for their TL breakfast. The leaders on the unload were happy to leave the unload without even giving the rest of us instructions on how to unload when we were running out of vehicles to use.

It didn't take long before we were completely out of flatbeds and U-boats. Everyone on the inbound team just stood around and left freight on the line while trying to figure out where to sort all of it. I've been on the team the longest and I was the one trying to calm everyone down and come up with a plan. I wanted to pull from the giant stack of wood pallets by the receiving desk, but our receiver has always been very protective of her pallets and she doesn't like them being used for anything other than receiving purposes. I argued with her that we needed the pallets more than her, but she wouldn't budge. I gave up because she's engaged to one of our front end TL's and I figured that I didn't need to piss him off. So the whole inbound team had all of this unloaded freight with nowhere to put it and none of the leaders were responding to our desperate calls for them on our walkies. It reached a point where one girl on the team just said that she was walking out and everyone else seemed fine with that, including me. So the entire inbound team ended up leaving just a few hours into our shift and left a half-filled truck with freight lying all over the floor and on the line.

I just went home and napped for a couple of hours and woke up to two missed calls from the store, but no voice mail left. I have the day off tomorrow, but we're all going in on Thursday for our next inbound shift and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little concerned. I feel a little bad, but then I think about how our store has been since roughly before the Holidays. For as long as I've been here, every weekend starting with Black Friday has always had the break room filled with all sorts of catered food for the team. We've even had some years where the food starts coming in starting with the first weekend of November. This store really used to take care of us for Q4, but so far this year, we've only gotten our Black Friday food, which consisted of cups of Ramen noodles and Ritz crackers requisitioned from the floor. And meanwhile, the entire leadership team had the entire Black Friday weekend of catered food like Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse. Virtually every TM in every department has felt hung out to dry so far during Q4 and I think this morning's incident was the last straw. But now I'm here wondering what kind of trouble the team could realistically could into over this incident. Could we all be fired? Would we get into any trouble at all or would the SD actually reflect on how things have been and take pity on us? I know that's probably wishful thinking on my part, but still, what's everyone else's thoughts on this?

When you go in next don't bring it up. Don't apologize or give excuses. Act like it never happened. Avoid extra talk with the TL. Do your job to the best of your ability. There may be consequences and they would be deserved. There may also be changes from leadership to support your team more

 

[Captain Orca]

There will be mass firings.

 

[purplenurple]

I can’t even say that this is a one off thing because you’ve shared that your store 🏬 was in bad shape BEFORE said day. Your Leadership leaving you all to “fend for yourself” is a good way to have your entire Target 🎯 store closed for good. I’m not saying this to scare you as you did everything in your power and job description. Even when you think no one is “watching”, they are. Just be ready for the “aftermath” on your next schedule shift. If your store does huddles, I’m sure it’s going to be a talking point. Hope things get better ❤️‍🩹 rather than worst.

I've been texting a closing TM and he told me that the leaders finished their breakfast, pushed as much truck as they could to clear off vehicles, and finished the rest of the unload. He's apparently seen firsthand that a lot of the leaders are really upset about the whole thing and he's trying to confirm rumors of one of the style leaders cussing out the SD and storming out of the store after the unload.

Our store's clearly a ton of fun.

 

[Ringwraith917]

Good luck. Keep us posted please, this is great drama 🍿🫢

 

[IceIceBaby]

There will be mass firings.

Yeah not in the middle of December. They'll F themselves over for real.

 

[Captain Orca]

I'll bet the Piper Archer they will at least partially clean house. If there are other Targets within an (x) mile radius they will pull from them to bail them out.

 

[SilentCrow]

I’m at a loss for words

 

[allnew2]

I hear how frustrating that morning was, and I don’t disagree that leadership stepping away without clear direction created unnecessary chaos. That part should have been handled better, full stop.
That said, the toy volume you’re describing is unfortunately very normal for Q4. In past years, even just during autofill we would see ~20 pallets of toys from pulls alone, plus the inbound truck. Toys were always palletized because that area consistently gets hit and will continue to snowball if it isn’t contained early.
Inbound teams are expected to be able to continue unloading even when leaders step away briefly, including anticipating vehicle needs. Running out of flatbeds/U-boats shouldn’t completely stall the line, especially with pallets available from the truck itself. Those pallets are not “owned” by receiving — freight that comes off your truck is intended to be used as needed to keep unload moving.
What concerns me most isn’t the freight, but the breakdown in communication and escalation. When leaders aren’t responding on the walkie, that’s a problem. However, walking out and leaving a half-unloaded truck creates much bigger issues for the team long-term than the morning itself.
To your question: mass termination is extremely unlikely. This will almost certainly be addressed as a leadership/process failure first, not a team punishment. The focus should be on resetting expectations, vehicle planning, and communication especially during Q4.

PS your SD is an asshole and your leader are kiss asses.

This was a bad morning, but it’s also a fixable one if the right conversations happen.

 

[purplenurple]

So here's the update after going in today.

Before we started the unload, our inbound leader had a huddle in receiving and he simply said that Tuesday's events were "unacceptable" and that we just needed to adhere to best practices, regardless of it being a stressful series of unloads. He didn't even try to make an attempt at anything resembling an apology or holding himself accountable. It was basically just all about how we're the ones who screwed up and how the leaders are the ones who had to deal with the most stress of the unfinished unload.

Every GM/Inbound TM got individual talks with HR throughout the day. Apparently all of the seasonal hires are being let go at the end of the year, even the ones who show up everyday and perform well. So they're the sacrificial lambs, so to speak. All TM's got written up, including me, but I also got a Final corrective action because of me getting into a shouting match with the receiver. I'll admit that I lost my temper and used some rather unsavory language directed at the receiver and I have to imagine that her fiancee being a front end TL had some sway in my punishment as well.

As for the whole food situation, our HR ETL came up with the excuse of "limited payroll" and that they've had to cut some corners for food for the TM's, but apparently not the leaders, which I think is downright BS. The entire atmosphere at work today was just nasty and everyone seems to agree that it's time to consider to leave this place. Transferring stores isn't an option for me because of my Final, but I'm in agreement that this whole incident really did sour a job that I mostly enjoyed. I really don't see things getting any better here.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

Before we started the unload, our inbound leader had a huddle in receiving and he simply said that Tuesday's events were "unacceptable" and that we just needed to adhere to best practices, regardless of it being a stressful series of unloads. He didn't even try to make an attempt at anything resembling an apology or holding himself accountable. It was basically just all about how we're the ones who screwed up and how the leaders are the ones who had to deal with the most stress of the unfinished unload.

This paragraph tells me that leadership at your store is failing. Not sure walking out was the best idea, but sometimes it does take a drastic action to force some needed change. Their lack of apology and accountability when they failed to respond to walkie calls is what's unacceptable, to my way of thinking. While they were all having a catered-in breakfast, no less!

Agree with you about HR's excuse for why the food for leadership but not the rank-and-file. The way to stretch the budget is to bring in something less costly for everyone - so boxes of donuts for the whole team instead of hot meals for leaders.

 

[SilentCrow]

Only thing I would say is that it is true that budgets are tight this year for tm recognition/ events. You're stretched thin severely. This is why some stores are restoring to cereal, donuts etc. Big meals for key days only. I have been frustrated this year with the low budgets we have for this but I can only deal with what I'm given. (One weird thing is my January food budget is higher than my December budget...go figure. I'll be missing December and going under January by choice)

Additionally, sounds to me that the TLs eating a meal that day was the team leader luncheon/breakfast that is mandatory for stores to do in Q4 per HQ. We have to select a date and time for when this will take place. I can be wrong but that's what it sounds like.

I'm not making an excuse for any of this. I'm just giving further insight into decisions we have to make and maybe that can shed some light on some things but all in all sounds wild to me. I would've at least had the leaders come do the luncheon after the unload. Compromise.

Toy freight is expected but maybe the SD should move a truck or ask for support help to get current. I find that when it gets to be overwhelming for the team the entire building has that feeling of dread that makes it hard for anyone to care.

 

[Luck]

I dont blame the team for walking out. But at the same time as a 6 year veteran I would expect you to be knowledgeable enough to know to pause the unload, start pushing freight to empty vehicles (particularly those that have a lot of bulk that can be pushed quickly like toilet paper/paper towels, and then start unloading again.