Hi friends!
My name is Jon and my pronouns are they, them, their.
I’m here to ask you all as fellow team members how you’re feeling about the pandeworker, whether you feel like your needs are being met?
Are you feeling stressed, stuck, frustrated, scared about safety, about pay, about hours and the work environment itself? Are you feeling like it’s Groundhog Day, like you’re zoning out, but also working super hard to get all your tasks done? Do you feel nervous about the amount of guests allowed in the store? Or how some guests are being verbally abusive to team members? Are you frustrated about guests refusing to wear masks or not wearing them properly? Are you receiving support from team leads or does the environment feel stressful or hostile? Are you struggling against any type of discriminatory treatment based on your identity or specific status?
My intention is to inspire us to self-reflect, find pride in our worth, and organize to create a safer, healthier work environment during and after the pandemic.
The pandemic has been traumatic and exhausting. 340,000 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19. That is more than 1 out of every 1,000 Americans. Those who survive often develop health problems brought on by the virus. Working out in public has been incredibly stressful and essential workers like us are at a risk of contracting Covid-19 and potentially spreading it to our families.
Our work—our wages—are the means by which we pay to take care of our bodies. Yet the health and safety of our bodies are at risk. We’re not able to rest, to have recreation or vacation. We risk not getting paid if we don’t go to work or if we contract Covid-19 multiple times or if we’re exposed multiple times. Team members’ hours are being cut, thus their funds are getting cut without aid or help.
The reality is that large companies like Target have made huge profits while millions of Americans-the working class, people with disabilities, women, Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities, poor and working-class LGBTQ+ are dying, unemployed, suffering financially, and exposed to the virus. As essential workers, WE are creating massive profits for Target while exposed to the public and a deadly virus, yet earning less then livable wages.
In other words, we work for a corporation that uses our bodies to make profits that we do not have fair access to.
The reality is the company fabricates profit goals. And our body is the labor that manifests those goals. Without us, there is no profit, there is no company, there is no building, there is no business, there are no products, there are no customers. We ARE the profit. We ARE the corporation. Yet, structurally, as median income workers, we are not invited into the boardrooms, we do not have top stock in the company, we do not actually have a say. We are layers and layers removed from the decision-making process. And the wages set for median income workers barely finance our most basic physiological needs and neglect our needs for healthcare, rest, recreation, and vacation.
Even before the pandemic, capitalism has been brutally unjust and inequitable. Let me paint a picture of what it looks like at Target.
Our CEO, Brian Cornell, earned $21.6 million ending February 1, 2020. His base salary was $1.4 million. That is approximately $729 per hour. The median salary for executive leaders is $240,000 a year. That is approximately $115 per hour. In 2019, the median employee pay was $23,000 per year, with a current base pay of $15 per hour.
The CEO to median worker ratio is 821 to 1. How is it morally or ethically acceptable to pay yourself over 800 times more than your employees?
Expecting more—a number like $20 per hour while executives make $100— is not unreasonable. It’s not even asking much in comparison. The system is stacked against us. And we must know that we deserve more. And we deserve to fight for more, to protect and defend our bodies, our lives.
The history of capitalism and labor rights is one of oppression and exploitation. Unionizing efforts are often squashed by large corporations using intimidation and termination tactics. Workers have historically been discouraged from practicing their federal rights to organize and bargain for better conditions and wages.
I want to stress that it IS OUR RIGHT to organize and advocate for better working conditions! I understand it takes a lot of effort to build trust and support in order to successfully organize and get things accomplished. In doing so, we could face backlash. There is a real risk of retaliation, a hostile work environment, or even getting fired. But if we know our rights, build confidence and support amongst ourselves as workers, we have
immense power in numbers, and we could decide our own fate.
Imagine team members banning together, offering financial, emotional and social support through the struggles of advocating for our rights, and finally getting to a place where we organize and collectively demand the conditions we deserve. We can collaborate and openly discuss what are our most pressing needs, who is the most vulnerable, who is struggling. We could spark the revolution we need in rebuilding a more fair society, economy and world.
America has sold us a very brutal story, that we have to suffer to be worthy. And my firm belief is that in a highly industrialized, functioning, organized society, we all deserve to win, to live well and healthy. There is no excuse for the brutality of our current economic structures or the lack of support we have received as working-class Americans during a vicious pandemic.
Let’s organize and work for change!
I have a petition that I started at my store! Check it out and get an idea of what I was asking for in my store.
Log in or sign up · Change.org - https://www.change.org/p/target-demand-that-target-protect-team-members-and-community-as-covid-19-surges-on-uncontrolled/dashboard
Also check out the petition for Target Workers Unite and sign up so your contact information can be available to TWU for further organizing efforts!!
Target, treat us like the essential workers we are! - https://form.jotform.com/203515403748150?fbclid=IwAR2dxFyO_1hg7WIwiONxbRcouyAv90ZjKRnPPBD30gaAU9wewXm3WecvdAo
If you’ve read this far, thanks for your time!! Stay safe 💚💚
