Unionize!

PhoQTargetMart said:
Organize people, organize and bring back unions. Your union, not anyone elses. Organize!
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Great idea.
You ready to put in the leg work?
Do the organizing?
Spend the time putting together the union?
It's one thing to type out a sentence.
It's another to be active and build something from the ground up.
As to making 'your own union', it's hard enough to organize inside an already running union organization much less create your own.
If you don't care for the local retail unions check out the IWW.
My grandfather was an organizer with them back when being a union organizer could get you killed.

Just be ready for Spot to not take it kindly.
 
Spot will literally (I mean do mean quite literally) burn all of its money preventing this from happening.

Would it be nice? Probably not, it would come with its own challenges that I'm not sure many here realize.

Is it a pipe dream? Yes.

As someone who was part of a union (negotiator/steward) leadership, I'd be happy to take the time to break down why I think a union would not improve really anything for you, should anyone like me to. I don't think unions are bad, I think they can be very advantageous for workers. Just in this particular situation I don't feel it would much matter.
 
PhoQTargetMart said:
Organize people, organize and bring back unions. Your union, not anyone elses. Organize!
Click to expand...
What is the benefit? Higher wages? Target is a trendsetter in raising minimum wages. Benefits? Decent benefits are offered to both part time and full time workers. Schedules? A concentrated effort has recently been made to provide team members with the schedules they desire. Safety? As a company, Target is at the forefront. In store really depends upon the actions of the individual team members to follow rules. Better raises, profit sharing, and consideration of seniority are possible benefits, but most don't stay long enough for this to matter.
 
Not smart. Don't do it. You will bounced out the door faster than a tennis ball. Line up your mustard and salad dressing real nice, be civil, be punctual, be cordial, do the Target thing right.
 
There's a large regional chain, very similar to Target, in my area that is unionized. I know people who work there or have worked there. Some of them say the union isn't really helpful much at all and some of them are actually opposed to it. Maybe it's just their particular leadership? I don't know, but I don't think it'd be a benefit to me or others at my store. It would, however, benefit the union since they'd get paid by more members. I'll pass.
 
There is no union that has the financial means to not get steamrolled by something like Target or Walmart.

In the exceedingly rare event a single store did actually manage to vote in a union, they would simply close the store - under whatever guise they want, as they have every time this has happened in the past.

If by some miracle that didn't happen, union negotiations would either A) increase wages to a level that is unsustainable using the current business model, and the store closes due to lack of profitability or B) Change almost nothing and you end up being out union dues on top of everything else.

Do you know what else typically comes with unions?

Static pay per position - everyone in that position makes the same wage regardless of merit.
Seniority based promotion and labor flexing - poor performers are never removed and regardless of ability the least senior people are the ones cut first.

Do you have health insurance through Target? Guess what - probably not anymore. That group policy that Target gets at a fat discount because it has thousands of employees? Your insurance is now likely through the union, and those costs are spread over a much smaller number of people, which means the costs are now much greater. Depending on the size of the union, we're talking upwards of 4 digits per pay for a family coverage plan. This is a big chip and likely the one that gets bargained away when trying to increase pay.

Target has shareholders to please. The amount of profit expected is static. If the union squeezes the balloon to give more money to the employees, it isn't coming out of their pockets - and unless there's some union out there with the level of financial capital to take that legal battle on and win - it's still coming out of your pocket, just maybe not the same one.
 
The United States as a whole has always been better off when it had strong unions.
I worked in a grocery store with a strong union and there were cashiers who had worked there for 20 years who had bought houses, cars, and sent their kids to college.
And this was for a local, statewide chain not a national.
Companies can make a profit working with a strong union because they have lower turnover, more loyal employees, and a more stable work environment.

And for folks who are saying that you can't fire poor performers, that is only if you bad management.
If you have good management who properly document events and work closely with the union, it isn't a problem.

Having a strong union is largely up to the members and how active you want to be in your union.
You have to want to show up at the meetings, run for the offices, and join the committees.
It sounds exhausting but it is the only way to fight a company that wants you to be a peon.

Fighting union busting companies is hard and Target is really good at busting unions.
It would take a whole bunch of people who are really tired of being stepped on to make it work.
At least 3 or 4 stores worth.
 
And good luck getting 3-4stores worth without anyone accidentally letting a lead know .. and don't accidentally have district hq be one of the 4
 
commiecorvus said:
The United States as a whole has always been better off when it had strong unions.
I worked in a grocery store with a strong union and there were cashiers who had worked there for 20 years who had bought houses, cars, and sent their kids to college.
And this was for a local, statewide chain not a national.
Companies can make a profit working with a strong union because they have lower turnover, more loyal employees, and a more stable work environment.

And for folks who are saying that you can't fire poor performers, that is only if you bad management.
If you have good management who properly document events and work closely with the union, it isn't a problem.

Having a strong union is largely up to the members and how active you want to be in your union.
You have to want to show up at the meetings, run for the offices, and join the committees.
It sounds exhausting but it is the only way to fight a company that wants you to be a peon.

Fighting union busting companies is hard and Target is really good at busting unions.
It would take a whole bunch of people who are really tired of being stepped on to make it work.
At least 3 or 4 stores worth.
Click to expand...

Getting a union into a local chain is much easier than getting one into a Target.

It's not even remotely close to the same. Target has nigh unlimited funds and will literally close entire stores just to prevent it from happening. It would take far more than three or four, imo it would have to be close to 10-15.

Target also has much more bargaining power, because they have a vast labor pool to draw on.
 
If a union passes a vote in a Target store they will just close the store down. They have done it in New York already and I'm sure other states where unions were passed.
 
You have to be willing to be broke, harassed and threatened, and possibly assaulted regularly. And patient enough to see it through for years. And thousands of others have to buy in. GL.
 
How to tell the difference between a scientist and a plumber - have them pronounce "unionize."

Seriously, I think just about everywhere should have a union and I don't think it's ever going to happen. What made unions so strong in the first place were their leaders - old fashioned capitalists who saw that the stronger the union, the more wealth and power for them. So who cares about little things like legalities when it comes to making a business submit. We don't have that any more, so unions can't be as every bit as sleazy as the businesses, and thus the fangs have been pulled. And businesses are buying off the regulators, buying off the politicians and anyone else needed to ignore their barely legal or flat out illegal doings that are stripping more and more workers' rights away.
 
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