Today's post is the first in what will be an ongoing series on the retail industry, its impact on our economy, and the opportunities and challenges its workers face.
A recent article in Good Magazine focused on telling the stories of workers in the service industry that anyone who works in the sector is all too familiar with. The piece is filled with examples of workers who are overworked, underpaid and do not have any job security or benefits. The fear of not being able to pay the bills, getting sick or getting fired at any moment is plaguing workers in an industry that will become the backbone of the American economy.
Retail jobs are growing, and they’re poised to become as important to the 21st Century American economy as manufacturing jobs once were. Yet, despite the growing demand of the service industry, retail jobs don’t always come with a path to the middle class, and instead leave workers struggling to meet their basic needs. If we want to have a middle class in America, it is crucial that millions of American retail workers have good jobs with solid work schedules, and a paycheck and benefits that pay the bills.
Make no mistake, retailers actively work to make these jobs “bad” jobs. Driven by the bottom line of profit, and emboldened by a struggling economy and a plethora of applicants, they’ve purposely created a broken system and negative working environment for workers. With the exception of a few responsible retailers whose workers have a union voice, most retail employers don’t pay a living wage. They depend on high turnover. They’re stingy with schedules in order to avoid paying overtime and providing benefits.
Retailers trap their workers in a cycle of inconsistent schedules and wages that leave them struggling to make ends meet and support their families. Many workers have to balance two or three different jobs at a time in order to make a 40 hour work week possible. The middle class cannot survive or prosper if its foundation of workers is scrambling between several jobs just to pay the bills or put food on the table.
Retailers and other service industry employers do this to send a clear message to workers: you don’t deserve good jobs. In surprising, stark contrast to the way we felt about manufacturing jobs, Americans are starting to believe retail jobs – the very foundation of our new economy – shouldn’t be decent, dependable, middle class jobs. Many workers are just grateful to have a job at all, and they expect low wages and benefits because it is part of the system that has been ingrained in them.
These workers will play a significant role in the American economy. It’s shocking to think about the consequences of a generation of workers whose primary job opportunities offer them no path to the middle class.
Many people see their retail jobs as temporary or as a stepping stone to other careers, so they don’t want to invest a lot in a position they believe will not serve them in the long run. But the fact is that many will end up staying in their service industry jobs because those will be the only opportunities available to them. That’s why retail workers need to unite and take action now to fight against the industry’s push to make retail jobs “bad jobs.”
Workers in retail can be empowered by coming together on the job, recognizing that they are a critical part of the national workforce, and demanding to share the success with profitable national and international retailers. Union workers at retailers like Macys, H&M, Modells, and Bloomingdales already know that having a union voice on the job means they’ll be compensated and treated in a way that reflects their hard work. They’re able to bargain the middle class wages and health care benefits they earn and deserve.
With a union on the job, empowered retail workers can bolster the growing service industry and re-create the modern middle class that workers had in the past, and what we certainly need now.
Showing posts with label retail jobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retail jobs. Show all posts
Jan 9, 2012
December Jobs Reports Brings Mixed News for Retail Workers
The latest Jobs Report was released Friday, and it brings some welcome news. During the month of December our economy added 200,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5%.
Retailers added 28,000 jobs, but food retailers are not foreseeing a full recovery for 2012, and department stores had a holiday season marked by deep discounts and sales that fell short of expectations.
In the 21st century American economy, more families will depend on retail jobs. These jobs are the backbone of our service economy, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that retail and other service jobs is one of the fastest growing sectors in our economy. The fact is that retail jobs are going to define how it is to live and work in America the way that manufacturing jobs once did. That’s why it’s so critically important that these are jobs where workers can earn a steady, family-supporting paycheck with middle class wages and benefits.
Yet, many retail workers have to cobble together 40 hours from two or three jobs. They don’t have a schedule they can count on. Their employers purposely skimp on hours, preventing full-time schedules so they won’t have to provide benefits. And the painful irony of the holiday season hiring boom is that the same workers who report to work at midnight on Black Friday are prevented from working a forty-hour week or earning overtime wages that would allow them to make their own holidays special.
If retail is going to be the future for millions of American workers, the sector can’t be staffed by people scrambling from one retail job to another. It’s not good for our economy, for retailers, or for workers who desperately need secure, full-time jobs that pay the bills and allow them to live a middle class life.
In a real sense, these workers and their families are the economy; they are the job creators. Workers who earn middle class wages are able to buy cars, food, and clothes. They take their families out to eat on special occasions. They save money instead of living on credit cards. They buy school uniforms and pay tuition, rent, and bills. And they buy and maintain homes.
The best way for retail workers to make positive changes is by sticking together in a union. UFCW members are able to bargain with their employers to share in their success. Having a union voice on the job means workers can make sure they’re compensated and treated in a way that reflects the value of their hard work. UFCW members have been successful bargaining fair wages, benefits, and respect on the job for both full-time and part-time workers in supermarkets, retail stores across the country. They know firsthand that people will only really start feel like the economy is on its way to a full recovery when families start earning middle class wages and benefits.
Retailers added 28,000 jobs, but food retailers are not foreseeing a full recovery for 2012, and department stores had a holiday season marked by deep discounts and sales that fell short of expectations.
In the 21st century American economy, more families will depend on retail jobs. These jobs are the backbone of our service economy, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that retail and other service jobs is one of the fastest growing sectors in our economy. The fact is that retail jobs are going to define how it is to live and work in America the way that manufacturing jobs once did. That’s why it’s so critically important that these are jobs where workers can earn a steady, family-supporting paycheck with middle class wages and benefits.
Yet, many retail workers have to cobble together 40 hours from two or three jobs. They don’t have a schedule they can count on. Their employers purposely skimp on hours, preventing full-time schedules so they won’t have to provide benefits. And the painful irony of the holiday season hiring boom is that the same workers who report to work at midnight on Black Friday are prevented from working a forty-hour week or earning overtime wages that would allow them to make their own holidays special.
If retail is going to be the future for millions of American workers, the sector can’t be staffed by people scrambling from one retail job to another. It’s not good for our economy, for retailers, or for workers who desperately need secure, full-time jobs that pay the bills and allow them to live a middle class life.
In a real sense, these workers and their families are the economy; they are the job creators. Workers who earn middle class wages are able to buy cars, food, and clothes. They take their families out to eat on special occasions. They save money instead of living on credit cards. They buy school uniforms and pay tuition, rent, and bills. And they buy and maintain homes.
The best way for retail workers to make positive changes is by sticking together in a union. UFCW members are able to bargain with their employers to share in their success. Having a union voice on the job means workers can make sure they’re compensated and treated in a way that reflects the value of their hard work. UFCW members have been successful bargaining fair wages, benefits, and respect on the job for both full-time and part-time workers in supermarkets, retail stores across the country. They know firsthand that people will only really start feel like the economy is on its way to a full recovery when families start earning middle class wages and benefits.
Nov 17, 2011
Support Retail Workers Sticking Together for a Say Over Holiday Scheduling
Retail workers go above and beyond to provide great service for their customers during the holiday season, and take pride in their work. But with stores like Walmart moving up Black Friday opening times to 10pm on Thanksgiving, and Target calling in workers at 11pm, retail workers will be unable to sit down with their families for Thanksgiving dinner this year.
Click here to sign the petition to stand with Walmart employees and other retail workers who are sticking together to have a say over their schedules during the holidays.
Concerns over hours and scheduling constantly fall at the top of the list of problems for retail workers. That's why workers should be able to stick together and have a say over their hours and scheduling, and compensation for holiday work. After all, retail jobs are the fastest growing jobs in the country, and millions of retail workers have the power to make these jobs good middle class jobs. That's good for our economy, and good for all Americans. UFCW members who work at stores like Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Modell's, and H&M know the power of sticking together and speaking with one voice. They know that we can improve our jobs and our lives by standing up with one another for what's right. By sticking together in a union, these retail workers earn higher pay for work on holidays. They also have more control over their schedules.
Retail workers are part of the 99 percent. And it's good to see that people are paying attention to the working conditions facing retail workers in our economy. We know that when workers speak with one voice to address workplace issues with management as a group, they begin to level the playing field and improve their jobs. When we support workers coming together to make positive changes in the workplace, we all win.
Retail workers and their families deserve respect on the job. Stand with Walmart employees and other retail workers who are sticking together to have a voice over their schedules during the holidays.
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