Forget turkey — some retail employees have a real beef when it comes to working Thanksgiving.
Petitions organized by disgruntled workers at chains, including Target, Macy’s and Kmart, have drawn tens of thousands of signatures, with all of them raising hackles about the growing practice of working the venerable and venerated holiday.
A petition against Target’s plans to open on Thanksgiving, started on Change.org by employee Justin Mills of Selah, Wash., had garnered more than 100,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Thanksgiving is a time for friends and family; it isn’t for deals, savings and money,” Mills said.
A similar petition to Macy’s from retail worker Kelly Kinsey, which had gained nearly 50,000 signatures as of Tuesday, invoked the department store’s iconic status when it comes to the holidays.
“When I was growing up, Macy’s was the definition of Thanksgiving,” Kinsey said, noting the retailer’s famous parade. “But today, their actions show that they could really care less about family time. They just want to make another buck from hard-working people like me and you.”
A spokesman for Macy’s, which will open its doors at 6 p.m. this year — two hours earlier than last year — acknowledged its moves have been driven by feedback from customers.
“We heard many customers say they wished we would have opened a little earlier,” spokesman Jim Sluzewski said, noting that 15,000 shoppers were waiting outside the flagship on Herald Square when it opened its doors last Thanksgiving.
More than 44.8 million consumers shopped on Thanksgiving Day in 2013, up 27 percent from 2012, according to the National Retail Federation.
Nevertheless, Macy’s said it isn’t forcing any workers to come in on Thanksgiving. Those who do will get paid time and a half, the retailer said.
At Target, some workers are being forced to work Thanksgiving against their wishes, the company acknowledged.
But “the vast majority” are enthusiastic to get paid time-and-a-half for Thanksgiving shifts, spokeswoman Molly Snyder said.