I've worked retail for 25 years, they have ALWAYS needed UNIONS! They have ALWAYS paid hourly employees AT or NEAR Minimum Wage. They have always offered LITTLE or NO benefits to those same employees. Yes, this is a specific, serious example of why a union is needed. With a union, Target employees could force Target to NOT make these changes. The GREAT news is that thanks to Obama, we will have universal health care that employees can get thru the government if their employer doesn't offer affordable, decent coverage.
Archived Your thoughts on a union?
- Thread starter puertoricanbeachguy
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The great news is that Obamacare hasn't really taken effect yet (only on a minor level) and will be easily reversed by whatever republican wins the presidential elections. Universal healthcare = Army healthcare and I promise you, that stuff sucks.
Except a Union can't give/promise anything. They simply provide the ability for collective bargaining. They can't guarantee an employer will give what you want, they can't prevent replacement workers, they can't get you guaranteed anything... they're useful if your employer is abusive, but Target isn't abusive, no matter how much you may whine about it.
I too have worked retail 28 years, 20 of them in the union. The union did nothing for me. They supplied my medical benefits which I was always grateful for. As far as wages go, I make more at Target than I would ever have made at the union store. I was capped out. I was hired in at Target for what I was making at the union store when they closed. The union wouldn't even help us find jobs at other union stores. I was management. Only the store manager was not union. So I really don't care if we are union or not. But we may have to organize to keep our benefits.
Rock Lobster
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Target is not anti-union, its pro-team member 
Couldn't help myself
Couldn't help myself
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Target is not anti-union, its pro-team member
Couldn't help myself
Wish that was true.
Sad that it isn't,
Can't help myself.
Wow, Naterstx sure isn't very in touch with reality. THOUSANDS of Target employees each year file complaints with the Employee Relations and Integrity department! Which means MANY supervisors and managers ARE ABUSIVE or the ER Hotline and Let Us Know Programs and Benefits.Feedback@target.com and the Best Team Surveys would NOT be necessary!
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Contacting the hotline without talking to your Stl or etl hr first, can you get in big trouble. Document all events, report it to your etl hr or hrbp to handle the issues.
Now back to our tropic on unions.
Rock, I am pro-team too. Unions have no place at spot as pitbull said.
redeye58
Hasta Ba Rista, Baby!
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To be the "Best company ever" means caring enough about your team through consistancy in their treatment & not trying to eliminate the few perks they have while spending obscene amts on sports stadium naming rights & political PACs.
By whilttling away perks & bennies every yr, treating dedicated TMs like expendable trash, belittling them behind their backs for wanting to move up the ranks, being so far out-of-touch that they're ignoring what really MAKES a great team Target is opening the door to unions. And, while this past drive may have failed, it won't stop future attempts.
I'd rather not see a union. I'd rather my company do the right thing.
By whilttling away perks & bennies every yr, treating dedicated TMs like expendable trash, belittling them behind their backs for wanting to move up the ranks, being so far out-of-touch that they're ignoring what really MAKES a great team Target is opening the door to unions. And, while this past drive may have failed, it won't stop future attempts.
I'd rather not see a union. I'd rather my company do the right thing.
talan123
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I think what Unions can offer is something that is far greater than more hours or better wages, they can offer security/stability not in the job sense but in the knowledge that SOMEBODY is going to look out for them.
To know that an organization is going to stand up for you when things start to go down the drain at work or home, they will be there. If a supervisor is making somebody uncomfortable then they can provide as a safety release or as somebody to believe in. Target, that is happening right now, is no longer capable of taking on those roles that it's team member needs for security/stability. The ETL's are too separated from what is going on with team members right now. I don't trust them to look after my best interests when I am working there. That creates additional chaos which causes stress on people.
As the basic relationship between employer/employee breaks down, as it is now happening at Target, the people with the power to change policy will have two choices. Continue doing the things they are doing right now and hope it goes away or they can fully address the problem by meeting with Team Members and seeing what is causing this stress and then act on those conversations.
The answer of whether we will have a union in the future is going to be answered by those at the top.
To know that an organization is going to stand up for you when things start to go down the drain at work or home, they will be there. If a supervisor is making somebody uncomfortable then they can provide as a safety release or as somebody to believe in. Target, that is happening right now, is no longer capable of taking on those roles that it's team member needs for security/stability. The ETL's are too separated from what is going on with team members right now. I don't trust them to look after my best interests when I am working there. That creates additional chaos which causes stress on people.
As the basic relationship between employer/employee breaks down, as it is now happening at Target, the people with the power to change policy will have two choices. Continue doing the things they are doing right now and hope it goes away or they can fully address the problem by meeting with Team Members and seeing what is causing this stress and then act on those conversations.
The answer of whether we will have a union in the future is going to be answered by those at the top.
Rock Lobster
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IMO there is no good reason for stores to have a unionized workforce... I think that Target has all the tools and the ability to treat its team right and keep them happy! The concern I have is what is happening in stores where union talk is happening? There is a big disconnect happening in their culture and morale if something like that is happening... maybe its the ETL staffing (we all know in some districts it seems like they take anyone)... maybe there is some shady actions taking place among management, but whatever the case may be Target needs to learn to solve those ISSUES and realize that where there is smoke, there is probably a fire! You can't combat union talk with anti-union videos and talk, you combat it by doing what is right for the team and finding out WHY they want a union in the first place!
If any of you believe a union is the way to go, you may have poor leadership. Take it to the next level And stress your concerns to the next in your chain of command or your HR. Have faith in the exceptional company you work for, and trust they have put the right people in the right places to take care of the team. Sometimes team members believe life is worse than it really is. If any of you have had a difficult job at any point in your life, you would realize how good life really is at Target!
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I'm trying to figure out if my sarcasm meter is broken.
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Rock Lobster
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I 100% agree
redeye58
Hasta Ba Rista, Baby!
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Not long ago, I was proud of my store & its leadership. In a relatively short span, it's become a glee redux with absurd pronouncements handed down from the mountain. Everything is a facade, priorities are skewed, paperwork is more important than the actual work, morale is a joke, recognition is a farce, brown-nosers are promoted while the skilled & talanted are left in the ditches.
To what level do I address this to?
No, contacting the Employee Relations Hotline should NOT get someone in trouble, though unfortunately you are probably right, the STL's and ETL HR's don't like when employees do that. The obvious problem is that MANY times it's the STL's and the ETL HR's the the employees are unhappy with, unforutnately for them, its the stl & the etlhr that do the ER investigations, pretty unlikely that's going to end up with an objective resolution. Let's see, how is someone supposed to document all events when Corporate America doesn't allow that! They don't allow anyone to attend the counseling and corrective action meetings except the people they choose - the employee can't have their preferred supervisor or manager attend, they don't allow any management/employee meeting to be recorded, and of course they don't allow unions. Have a great week everyone! =)
Very well said Talan! I wonder how old the people on here are? They all sound like between 15 and 29. There are lots of reasons to cause people to talk against unions: They are members of MGMT or they are RICH or they THINK they did "their time" at the bottom, and clearly they haven't worked enough jobs or long enough at one job to find all the HUGE inequities that exist in big business and corporate america!
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I am way pass 30. I am not rich, ethier.
lovecats
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I had my 60th birthday this past July. I'm not now nor have I ever been rich. I'm a conservative Christian who mostly votes Republican. I have never been nor do I want to be a member of Management. Been working for the past 20 years as a bank teller (close to 5 yrs), 5 yrs working in a dry cleaning plant, over 8 yrs in retail ( 5 at Tgt). Was in the Air Force from 1970 thru 1974 and after that was a stay at home Mom until I went back to work at a Family Dollar in 91.
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Headquarters...are you reading this? All we want is fairness...not b/s!
By the way "b/s" doesn't stand for "backstock!"
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Unfortunately 30 passed me by a long time ago.
I often surprise the people I work with when they learn that, they think I'm younger which is nice but not always complementary (means I'm not nearly as mature as I should be).
I wish Spot listened and cared about how the TM's felt but I when it comes down to the bottom line I'm sure they really don't care.
Because they can't afford to; if they give anything to us and the company doesn't turn the huge profit they don't get their bonuses, the stockholders don't make their obscene profits and they get replaced.
I often surprise the people I work with when they learn that, they think I'm younger which is nice but not always complementary (means I'm not nearly as mature as I should be).
I wish Spot listened and cared about how the TM's felt but I when it comes down to the bottom line I'm sure they really don't care.
Because they can't afford to; if they give anything to us and the company doesn't turn the huge profit they don't get their bonuses, the stockholders don't make their obscene profits and they get replaced.
Target Annie
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Miguel, you guessed wrong. I passed 29 quite a while ago. Not rich, not mgmnt, and I've been at Target over 20 years. Just because a union comes in doesn't mean the union would be fair. It's another business, and in my experience, the union just wanted money and was on the company side in most issues.
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