Consume less as we try to emulate America with Black Friday and Cyber Monday!
Here’s an article
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S., is traditionally the
biggest shopping day of the year as retailers kick off the holiday season.
But this year could begin a new tradition — of Black Friday being the
biggest labour protest day of the year.
Workers at the giant retailer Wal-Mart are preparing for walkouts and
rallies at as many as 1,000 stores across the country. The actions are part
of a wave of strikes and protests that began at several distribution
centers in September and then moved on to Wal-Mart stores in October. The
rolling walkouts have continued sporadically since, as workers organize for
the call made by their OUR Walmart campaign for actions on Black Friday
around the country.
The scale of the Black Friday walkouts will vary from store to store,
involving smaller or larger groups of workers. Wal-Mart, of course, is
nonunion, so the ‘associates’ who answer the call for a strike will do so
in protest over grievances about management retaliation, harassment and
unsafe conditions — this gives them some protection under U.S. labour
laws.
Meanwhile, supporters of the Wal-Mart workers are planning to gather
alongside them for rallies, pickets and other actions at the stores — to
show their solidarity with this long-awaited challenge to a corporate
goliath.