沃尔玛黑色周五大罢工的利益博弈.docx

沃尔玛黑色周五大罢工的利益博弈
Thousands of Wal-Mart employees won't be pushing away from the Thanksgiving meal today to visit with family, watch football, or even clean the dishes. Instead, they'll be heading to work to welcome bargain-hunting shoppers.
But some of the retail giant's employees are opting out this year. One of those is Yesenia Yaber, a cashier at a Chicago Walmart (WMT) store, who says she really needs her job to support her five young children, says she's told her bosses that she can't work on Thanksgiving.
For the past two years, Yaber, who has protested working conditions as part of the union-backed group OUR Walmart, has worked in the early morning for the store's Black Friday sales, the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. This year, she says she was assigned to a shift to prepare for the store's 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day opening. For her, it's not only about being with her children for the holiday meal, it's also a practical matter.
"I can't work overnight," she says. "My mom babysits the kids. Two of my kids are special needs. She can't stay up all night."
For Wal-Mart, it's also a matter OF practicality, though. The door-buster sale is a commercial juggernaut. Last year, stores racked up $52.4 billion in sales over the four-day Thanksgiving shopping weekend, up 16% over the previous year. Nabbing that heavily discounted flat screen TV or tablet isn't just about jostling with fellow budget-minded shoppers; it is a badge of bargain-hunting prowess.
Earlier this month, Wal-Mart and its competitors, including Target (TGT) and Sears (SHLD), announced that bargain specials would start Thursday evening instead of the pre-dawn hours of Friday.
Walmart stores are typically open on Thanksgiving Day, but what was once an optional way for workers to make some holiday overtime cash has now become a source of confrontation. This year, customers will not just be coming in for miscellaneous purchases but are expected to be arriving in droves for serious shopping. To cope with the expected surge of eager shoppers, stores have to be staffed up with a full cadre of employees.
As commerce nibbles away at the one holiday that cuts across religious, income, ethnic, and other American divides, Wal-Mart workers are becoming bolder about saying no, even in this uncertain economy.
Workers and their backers, who include those who are friendly to unions, have been protesting against Wal-Mart's practices, with walkouts scattered across some of the 4,000 stores across the country. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailing behemoth has staunchly resisted efforts to unionize its 1.4 million workers.
Wal-Mart, which did not respond to a request for comment, initially brushed off the demonstrations by OUR Walmart, which stands for Organization United for Respect at Walmart. The company has said that it retains a large percentage of employees and pays $12.54 an hour, a higher wage than the retail industry average.
A Wal-Mart spokesman, David Tovar, has held that the walkouts have been orchestrated by unions. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, whose affiliate is called Making Change At Walmart, has been active in organizing picketing against the country's largest retailer.
But Wal-Mart startled friends and foes by lodging a complaint on Nov. 15 with the National Labor Relations Board, seeking to bar demonstrations on grounds that federal labor law requires a formal vote to unionize after 30 days of such public protests.
Workers like Yaber say they are focused on bread-and-butter issues, not unionizing. She makes under $10 per hour and said she would like to have the minimum hourly wage raised to $12, and see more full-time work schedules as well as less expensive health care insurance.
That level of pay would raise 700,000 American workers out of poverty, according to a report issued this week from Demos, a New York-based research group. It also estimated that the increase would create an additional 100,000 jobs, at a cost to customers of $.15 per shopping trip.
Aside from worker concerns, Wal-Mart's no-nonsense reputation has been buffeted in recent months by allegations of bribery to set up stores in foreign countries.

"When you see that they go to another country and spend so much money to open one store, why can't they spend more on workers here," asked Dan Hindman, who has worked for a Los Angeles-area Walmart store since 2009.
A sales associate in electronics, 28-year-old Hindman has participated in OUR Walmart protests in his off time. He plans, for the first time, to walk out during his scheduled shift Friday evening to protest in front of the store.
Hindman, who says he makes $9.80 an hour and works a varied schedule, says he is speaking out because "How they treat us isn't fair." Next year, he says that his insurance premiums, about $106 every two weeks, will increase by more than one-third. At the same time, Wal-Mart is cutting back its contributions.
"I can't spend Christmas with my four-year-old son. Now it's Thanksgiving. I thought when I was hired that there was a future with Wal-Mart," he says. "The community needs to know what is going on. Wal-Mart is part of the community."
Even so, Hindman says his hours for next week already have been cut back significantly, which he believes is retaliation for speaking out. There was no way of ascertaining whether the reason, but Tovar, speaking to CBS Evening News Wednesday, said that if employees -- called associates by Wal-Mart -- don't show up, "depending on the circumstances, there could be consequences."
OUR Walmart filed its own complaint with the labor board this week, arguing that Tovar's comment amounted to an illegal threat directed at discouraging its workers from protesting.
Protests or no, Wal-Mart may have sealed the deal with its customers when it announced earlier this month that it "guarantees" the top three wish list items for those who are in a Walmart store and in line during a one-hour window on Thanksgiving Day.
今天，吃完感恩节大餐之后，数千名沃尔玛（Wal-Mart ）员工不会走亲访友，看球赛，甚至连刷碗的时间都没有，因为他们要赶着去工作，迎接想买便宜货的顾客们。
但今年与以往不同，这家零售业巨头的部分员工却拒绝以这样的方式过节。叶塞尼亚·亚伯尔便是其中的一位。她是芝加哥沃尔玛的一名收银员，她说，虽然自己需要这份工作来抚养五个未成年的孩子，但她已经跟老板说过，自己不能在感恩节上班。
从黑色星期五开始，美国就开始进入节日购物季。过去两年里，每到黑色星期五，亚伯尔一大早就要开始在超市的工作。而今年，她说自己被安排轮班，为晚上8点开始的感恩节特购会做准备。对于她来说，它不仅关系到能不能和孩子们一起共进节日大餐，同时也是一个实际的问题。
她说：“我不能加班。因为我妈妈在帮我带孩子。其中有两个孩子需要特殊护理。我妈妈肯定不能熬一整个晚上。”
而沃尔玛也有很实际的理由。开门大抢购绝对是一场商业盛宴。去年，仅仅四天的感恩节购物周末，沃尔玛的销售额就达到了524亿美元，比前一年上涨了16%。抢购大幅打折的平板电视或平板电脑不仅是和其他同样精打细算的购物者们血拼，同时也是一个象征，可以在别人面前显摆自己抄底价购物的能力。
本月早些时候，沃尔玛及其竞争对手塔吉特（Target）和西尔斯百货（Sears）等，都宣布特卖会将从周四晚开始，而不是周五的凌晨。
沃尔玛通常会在感恩节正常营业。以前，员工可自行选择在这一天上班，赚些节日加班费，如今却成为冲突的源头。今年感恩节，顾客们并不是来这里随便买些东西，而是要成群结队地到沃尔玛大采购。为了应对可能大批涌入的急切的购物者，各大超市不得不增员，保证各个岗位的人员齐备。
感恩节是一个跨越了宗教、收入、种族和其他界限的节日，各大商家正在一点点蚕食购物季市场，沃尔玛员工们对公司的对抗行为却变得越来越明显，尽管经济形势仍充满了不确定性。
沃尔玛员工及其支持者们，包括工会的支持者们，一直在抗议沃尔玛的做法，罢工活动已经蔓延到美国4,000家门店。这个位于阿肯色州班顿维尔的零售业巨头一直坚决反对公司140万名员工加入工会。
沃尔玛没有对此进行任何评论。最初，沃尔玛对“我们的沃尔玛”（OUR Walmart，全称Organization United for Respect at Walmart.）组织的罢工不予理睬。沃尔玛表示，公司留住了大部分员工，将支付12.54美元的时薪，高于零售业的平均水平。
沃尔玛发言人戴维·托瓦认为，工会一直在精心策划罢工。美国食品及零售业联合工会（United Food and Commercial Workers Union）及其下属机构“改变沃尔玛”（Making Change At Walmart），一直在积极组织针对美国最大零售商的示威活动。
然而，11月15日，沃尔玛向美国劳资关系委员会投诉（National Labor Relations Board），要求禁止示威活动，理由是美国联邦劳动法规定，在类似公开示威30日后，必须通过正式投票来成立工会。此举让沃尔玛的支持者和反对者们均感震惊。
与亚伯尔类似的工人们表示，他们关注的是生计问题，而不是是否加入工会。亚伯尔的时薪不足10美元，她希望自己的最低时薪能涨到12美元，有更多全时工作，以及更便宜的医疗保险。
据纽约一家调查机构Demos公布的信息显示，如果达到她期望的工资水平，700,000名美国员工将摆脱贫困。此外，Demos估计，涨薪还能额外增加100,000个工作岗位，消费者需要承担的成本是每次购物多花0.15美元。
除了员工的担心外，最近几个月，沃尔玛被指控在国外为开设新店行贿，使公司一贯的严肃形象倍受打击。
自2009年便在洛杉矶一家沃尔玛超市工作的丹·辛德曼反问说：“你看，他们为了去其他国家开一家店，花了那么多钱，为什么不能在美国员工身上多投入一些呢？”
28岁的辛德曼是一位电子产品售货员，曾在下班时间参加过“我们的沃尔玛”组织的示威活动。他打算在周五晚上规定的轮班时间去参加罢工，到店铺门前示威，这是他第一次这么做。
辛德曼称，他的时薪是9.80美元，工作时间也不固定。他说自己之所以参加示威，是因为“他们这样对待我们不公平。”他说，明年他的保险费将上涨超过三分之一，目前是每两周约106美元。而与此同时，沃尔玛还打算降低公司供款额度。
他说道：“我没法陪四岁的儿子过圣诞节，现在连感恩节也成了泡影。当初我被录用的时候，我还想着在沃尔玛肯定有个好前程。社会需要知道发生了什么情况。沃尔玛也是社会的一部分。”
但尽管如此，辛德曼还是表示，自己下周的上班时间已经被大幅缩短，他认定这是对自己参加示威活动的报复。我们无法确定真正的原因，但周三，托瓦尔在接受哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）《晚间新闻》（Evening News）节目采访时称，如果员工（沃尔玛称售货员）不按规定上班，“根据具体情况，他们将承担由此产生的后果。”
本周，“我们的沃尔玛”也向劳资委员会提出了投诉，认为托瓦尔的言论属于非法威胁，目的是要阻止沃尔玛员工参加示威。
不管有没有示威，沃尔玛可能早就跟消费者达成了共识。因为早在本月初，沃尔玛便宣布，将为最受欢迎的三件商品提供供应担保，凡是在感恩节当天一个小时的时段内，在沃尔玛店铺内排队购物的消费者，公司“保证”这三件产品有货。