# Amazon, Walmart, Target strike **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 1, 2020, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954 "2020-05-01T10:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/21 "2020-05-01T18:13:40Z")
Armed protestors in a state house. Big hog farms euthanizing hogs to keep from feeding them Milk being poured out on the ground. Chicken plants closing for lack of social distancing. My Governor opening the state, too soon. Now striking dept.store workers. The whole world is going bonkers. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/22 "2020-05-01T18:55:15Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Armed protestors in a state house. > Big hog farms euthanizing hogs to keep from feeding them > Milk being poured out on the ground. > Chicken plants closing for lack of social distancing. > My Governor opening the state, too soon. > > Now striking dept.store workers. > > The whole world is going bonkers. The world has been bonkers for forever. The rona is just scraping the frosting off the shit cake. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/23 "2020-05-01T19:37:22Z")
yes the poster’s a obnoxious twit reminds me of oklarhoma or whatever his name was except he’s apparently left-leaning > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Armed protestors in a state house. > Big hog farms euthanizing hogs to keep from feeding them > Milk being poured out on the ground. > Chicken plants closing for lack of social distancing. > My Governor opening the state, too soon. > > Now striking dept.store workers. > > The whole world is going bonkers. except for the last two lines its 1930-3 all over again … As for the discussion of labor unions, you have to remember about 50- 70 percent of union gains were achieved in the great depression … in fact i just read a [history.com](http://history.com) thing on the first effective sit down strike ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/24 "2020-05-01T19:48:21Z")
> [@Manwich](#): > > It’s just words but don’t be a scab, don’t shop somewhere where there is union action, show some solidarity so we all have better lives. No. Fuck You. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/25 "2020-05-01T19:53:15Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > No. Fuck You. This is why we can never have a nice revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/26 "2020-05-01T19:54:51Z")
I’m not down with the OP’s phrasing, but for real: warehouse workers are running into really unsafe working conditions, and today’s strike is a desperate effort to pressure their employers to put some protections in place. It’s worth supporting those workers, and honoring a one-day strike is a very small but nonzero action in support of their efforts. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/27 "2020-05-01T20:01:34Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Oh, cram it. You do not know why a person would cross a picket line and, got news for you, it’s none of your fucking business why they do that. Most 'scabs’are trying to earn a living to support themselves/their families … Remember, Casey Jones was _murdered_ by strikers and organizers for going to work at his normal job to support his family. [Songwise, was there a real Casey Jones? I know offhand 2 versions of the story one union organizer and one where he was just trying to get over the mountains between Reno and California and wiped out because he was going too fast] Personally, while I sympathize with people wanting to force their employers [or employers in general] to provide better wages or improved working conditions, some people just want to keep their heads down and get on with their job and well, murder is murder … [ex union member, as a matter of fact.] ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/28 "2020-05-01T20:46:34Z")
> [@Manwich](#): > > US people, workers are striking over generally shitty working conditions but Covid bullshit in particular. > > Remember that if you cross a picket line you’re a fucking scab > > Solidarity to all workers at this particularly trying time. > > [https://www.fastcompany.com/90499409/amazon-walmart-target-mega-strike-heres-what-to-know-about-the-sprawling-protest](https://www.fastcompany.com/90499409/amazon-walmart-target-mega-strike-heres-what-to-know-about-the-sprawling-protest) > > Good luck comrades. I’m in full support of them this May 1st, and I’ve never belonged to a union. I would like to, but that’s just how the cards fell for me. Anyway, there are only two grocery stores in my area, so I’ll try to avoid ones that have strikers. Unions exist for a reason, workers. Look at Trump ordering meat processors back to work. If the comp’ny makes life unnecessarily dangerous for the employees, fuck the comp’ny, and the generally wealthy folks who are responsible for the conditions. No one should get paid shittily for risking their life. No one should be subject to unnecessary risks when safety measures are available. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/29 "2020-05-01T20:57:18Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I’m in full support of them this May 1st, and I’ve never belonged to a union. I would like to, but that’s just how the cards fell for me. Anyway, there are only two grocery stores in my area, so I’ll try to avoid ones that have strikers. Unions exist for a reason, workers. Look at Trump ordering meat processors back to work. If the comp’ny makes life unnecessarily dangerous for the employees, fuck the comp’ny, and the generally wealthy folks who are responsible for the conditions. No one should get paid shittily for risking their life. No one should be subject to unnecessary risks when safety measures are available. THis ^ It’s about the balance of power, which has tipped a little too far in the direction of oligarchs the past few decades. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/30 "2020-05-01T21:19:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m not down with the OP’s phrasing, but for real: warehouse workers are running into really unsafe working conditions, and today’s strike is a desperate effort to pressure their employers to put some protections in place. It’s worth supporting those workers, and honoring a one-day strike is a very small but nonzero action in support of their efforts. Now imagine this as the basis for an OP instead of the one we got. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/31 "2020-05-01T22:04:21Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Songwise, was there a real Casey Jones? [Time](https://time.com/3828342/casey-jones-wife/) says there was, and a Mrs. Casey Jones as well. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/32 "2020-05-02T00:33:31Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m not down with the OP’s phrasing, but for real: warehouse workers are running into really unsafe working conditions I’m somewhat skeptical of the claims about Amazon being unsafe, based on what relatives who work there are telling me. (And honestly, just a lot of the bs I see about them in general, having worked there myself) What they’ve done locally is put up dividers at all work stations to eliminate contact between employees, canceled all meeting, changed start times to prevent crowding at the start and end of shift, require masks on everyone, expanded the break rooms so people can’t sit together, do temperature checks on everyone entering the building, and until today, if you were still nervous about getting sick, you could choose to miss work with no penalty. It’s considerably more than what we’re doing at my job (face masks, sanitizer, social distancing is monitored). What a lot of people seem to want instead is for them to close the facility as Toyota (the other big local employer) did, which would let them qualify for unemployment benefits while staying home. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/33 "2020-05-02T00:59:43Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > What a lot of people seem to want instead is for them to close the facility as Toyota (the other big local employer) did, which would let them qualify for unemployment benefits while staying home. And, while I understand that, I can’t see how that could work. Those companies are basically what are allowing the lockdown to even happen. People can buy stuff from those places, even as smaller places have to shut down. A company like Toyota which makes vehicles is not as important in the day-to-day aspects, and can more easily stop. It’s why I’m happy my dad (61 with asthma, hence at risk) was working at a place like that (manufacturing parts, technically) rather than where he used to work–the local grocery supplier. His company shut down even without a direct order from the state. Now, if we can come up with a solution that keeps things running but allows these people to be safer, I’m all for it. I agree that these people shouldn’t be the ones who have to shoulder all the risk. But I can’t see how a full shutdown is a workable option. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/34 "2020-05-02T01:01:56Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > But there’s a lot of labor stuff happening today. > > -Strike against Amazon, Target, and Walmart. And Trader Joes, who are engaged in some [union-busting of their own](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/23/labor-unions-trader-joes-workers-coronavirus-us). Recognizing that “union-busting” is a term that has been used to describe just about any activity by an employer, legal or illegal that could be viewed as discouraging formation of a union by its employees, the case for thus labeling Trader Joe’s seems pretty weak. Informing employees through a letter or otherwise that unionization is not in their best interest? The horror. > [@linked article](#): > > Workers at the online clothing retailer Everlane and the art logistics company Uovo have filed federal labor charges accusing the companies of firing workers during the pandemic for union organizing. Now _that_ if true is union-busting. I pledge to not enter any business where union picketers are shouting “Possum by”\* \*in memory of the great Nathan’s Famous strike of '69. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/35 "2020-05-02T01:16:24Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, that’s not what a scab is. > A scab isn’t a person that shops at a place with workers on strike, it’s a person that takes a temp job at a place with workers on strike. How did you post this in post 9 when it’s a response to post 17? > [@Manwich](#): > > It’s just words but don’t be a scab, don’t shop somewhere where there is union action, show some solidarity so we all have better lives. Can we get another thing straight? “Cross a picket line” means to go work in the establishment, not patronize it. It’s like you’re wrong twice, which cancel each other out. Yes, if you cross a picket line, you’re a scab. If you are a customer, though, you are neither crossing a picket line nor a scab. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/36 "2020-05-02T02:29:22Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Recognizing that “union-busting” is a term that has been used to describe just about any activity by an employer, legal or illegal that could be viewed as discouraging formation of a union by its employees, the case for thus labeling Trader Joe’s seems pretty weak. Informing employees through a letter or otherwise that unionization is not in their best interest? The horror. As someone mentioned above, union organizers tend to be their own worst enemy. When I worked at Amazon there were murmurs about unionizing, but all the rhetoric was basically how 1) we could gouge them for more money because Jeff Bezos had “too much” and 2) a union would make them stop drug testing or breathalyzing people that reeked of weed or beer returning from lunch. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/37 "2020-05-02T02:33:18Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > I’m somewhat skeptical of the claims about Amazon being unsafe, based on what relatives who work there are telling me. (And honestly, just a lot of the bs I see about them in general, having worked there myself) > > What they’ve done locally is put up dividers at all work stations to eliminate contact between employees, canceled all meeting, changed start times to prevent crowding at the start and end of shift, require masks on everyone, expanded the break rooms so people can’t sit together, do temperature checks on everyone entering the building, and until today, if you were still nervous about getting sick, you could choose to miss work with no penalty. Amazon has had to shut warehouses down because of the spread of COVID. They’ve refused to do so until workers protested. They’re not leading on this, they’re following worker, and consumer, pressure. I don’t know whether what they’re doing now is adequate, but given the choice of believing the workers, and believing Amazon’s PR machine, I’m gonna err on the side of the workers. Your theory that they’re just lazy assholes looking for paid time off? Not buying it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/38 "2020-05-02T02:36:53Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Recognizing that “union-busting” is a term that has been used to describe just about any activity by an employer, legal or illegal that could be viewed as discouraging formation of a union by its employees, the case for thus labeling Trader Joe’s seems pretty weak. Informing employees through a letter or otherwise that unionization is not in their best interest? The horror. That article called it “the latest” in a series of anti-union actions, linking to this [NYTimes article](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/business/trader-joes-unionization-coronavirus.html), in which mandatory anti-union meetings and trying to get employees to rat out organizers is described: > [@NYTimes](#): > > That nascent organizing effort seems to have alarmed Trader Joe’s. At the end of March, store managers gave anti-union lectures during regularly scheduled “huddles" with staff, using talking points from the email. In one case, a regional manager visited stores to argue that the hazard pay petition was an opportunistic attempt to seduce workers into joining a union. > … > The coronavirus pandemic is not the first time employees at Trader Joe’s have mobilized to change company policy or that executives have pushed back. Over the years, company officials have aggressively opposed unionization, employees said, taking workers aside to track down rumors about efforts to organize staff. > … > In Louisville, Mr. King said Trader Joe’s had mostly treated him well. But last week, he started a Facebook group for workers to discuss how the store was handling the pandemic. On Saturday, he was fired. > > Mr. King had already been written up twice over the last year, he said, including for playfully tossing quinoa in the direction of a co-worker. The Facebook page was the final straw. > > “This is not how we operate,” he said his manager told him. “We don’t operate by letting crew talk amongst themselves.” ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/39 "2020-05-02T03:06:31Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Can we get another thing straight? “Cross a picket line” means to go work in the establishment, not patronize it. It’s like you’re wrong twice, which cancel each other out. Yes, if you cross a picket line, you’re a scab. If you are a customer, though, you are neither crossing a picket line nor a scab. IME, **in practice** in modern union lingo, “scab” and “crossing the picket line” have grown to include patronizing a business under strike. People are, by and large, perfectly aware of the traditional/technical/dictionary meaning and if the distinction becomes very important to a discussion they’ll make it clear, but especially in calls to action for solidarity people use “scab” and “cross the picket line” in a looser sense for two reasons: 1. They’re provocative and punchy, which is useful in mobilization and organizing 2. Patronizing a business whose workers are under strike enables and rewards scabs, and is seen as **tantamount** to scabbing, in that even if you’re not directly crossing the line to work at the business under strike, you are endorsing and enabling the scabs, and directly working to undermine the union by rewarding the business for operating without its core employees. But “tantamount to being a scab” or “tantamount to crossing the picket line” is a mouthful so it just gets shortened to “scab” and “crossing the picket line.” Also seriously how hard is it to not buy shit online for one day. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954/40 "2020-05-02T03:12:47Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Remember, Casey Jones was _murdered_ by strikers and organizers for going to work at his normal job to support his family. [Songwise, was there a real Casey Jones? The real Casey Jones was not murdered. He died in a railway accident. A freight train hauling corn was stopped on the tracks where it wasn’t supposed to be. Casey told his assistant to jump to safety before the crash and laid on the brake to minimize danger to others around. His engine ran off the tracks when it crashed into the corn car and he got killed. He was the only fatality. There was no strike on. It was an accident. Casey Jones heroically sacrificed his life to try to protect others. Song lyrics say all kinds of untrue crap about him, including something about cocaine! He didn’t use cocaine either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-walmart-target-strike/852954.md?page=3)