Ever since I left retail hell as a young twenty-something over a decade ago, my anti-consumerist & anti-corporate feelings have only intensified. Every year I shudder in disbelief as throngs of possessed people kick down doors on Black Friday to get at the latest “deals.” In some cases people have been killed as the shoppers trample over their fellow-man like a herd of wild elephants running from a mouse.

This is why I can’t help but agree with people wanting Target to revert back to the 5 am opening on Black Friday instead of making their employees come in at 11 pm on Thanksgiving Day. Personally, I’d rather support Buy Nothing Day and not even take part in Black Friday at all, but nonetheless there’s no reason to open the stores on Thanksgiving.

In our consumerist culture, marketers and retailers fuel the herd. Now don’t get me wrong I love my gadgets and etc. but I’m tired of being told what is the hot item that I absolutely must have. I don’t want to be the one waiting in line for the newest Wii or iPhone. I definitely don’t want to be the person waking up at four am to wait in line for the chance to acquire said device for a low price. If it’s a good product and I have a need or want for it then I’ll consider purchasing it if it’s something I can afford. But I refuse to become obsessed with getting it at all costs.

It looks like the real thugs these days aren’t the unions as the right-wing would have you think. The real thuggery is from corporations like Target.

The Brooklyn body of the National Labor Relations Board has gathered more evidence that Target intimidated workers by threatening to close a store if a union was approved in a vote this summer.

The new charges could be enough evidence for an administrative law judge to recommend that the election results be overturned, Alvin Blyer of the regional NLRB told the Minnesota Independent.

Also, circulating on the Internet is an anti-union video that Target makes its employees watch. While Target is not as horrible as Wal-Mart they’re not too far behind.

David Sirota actually pointed this out and made the comment “and you wonder what is wrong with our country.” He’s right and this has been happening for years now. Benjamin Barber has talked about this in his book Consumed. Naomi Klein made us aware of this in No Logo and I’m sure there are other books to cite as well. Oh hell I’ll throw Affulenza in there too.

Why do you allow corporations to tell you when to wake up and go somewhere just to make a purchase? Can’t the prices be had on other days–not just one day known as Black Friday? Can’t you simply go online these days? Why are you so desperate to get into the store on that day that you would trample over people and in some cases kill someone?

Also what are you buying?  Are you on that line hoping to get some new piece of electronic equipment or toy that marketers are telling you that you must have? In the past it’s been the Playstation II, iPhone, Wii, Xbox, Furby, Tickle Me Elmo, Beanie Babies, Pokemon, Cabbage Patch and I could go on.

There’s always going to be some “hot item” that marketers are going to convince the public that they must have or that their kids must have.  I’m not against buying a product that you want but I’d rather people want things that they’ve come to realize on their own that they want not through advertising and marketing. I’d also wish that low prices would not drive people to such extremes to acquire things. There’a whole other line of thought on low prices and their negative side you could get into.

In the end just don’t trample on someone. OK?

I’ve always felt that municipalities have gone tax abatement crazy. Which is why during The Great Recession it is good to see tax abatements being pulled back.

“We will roll out the red carpet as much as we can (but) they are going to honor the contract,” said Brendon Gallagher, an alderman in DeKalb, Ill., where Target Corp. got abatements from the city, county, school district and other taxing bodies after promising at least 500 jobs at a local distribution center.

So when the company came up 66 workers short in 2009, Target got word its next tax bill would be jumping almost $600,000 – more than half of which go to the local school district, where teachers and programs have been cut as coffers dried up.

The American Booksellers Association asked the Justice Department’s antitrust division to investigate “predatory” pricing of books sold by Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp.

“We ask that the Department of Justice investigate practices by Amazon.com, Walmart and Target that we believe constitute illegal predatory pricing that is damaging to the book industry and harmful to consumers,” nine ABA board members wrote in a letter addressed to Christine Varney, the assistant attorney general for the antitrust division.

via Booksellers Seek Probe on ‘Predatory’ Amazon.com, Target Prices – Bloomberg.com.

This is just like everything else a big corporation would do when competing in the marketplace. They move in then undercut the competition with lower prices. When the competition is gone you will then see prices raised. It is unjust. Although with the online element of Amazon I would gather that their predatory pricing is capable of major damage.

It would seem they have been knowingly selling toys that exceeded unacceptable lead levels.

Target has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that the retailer knowingly sold toys with paint and surface coatings that exceeded acceptable lead levels, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced today. The penalty is associated with items sold by Target from May 2006 through August 2007 that were subsequently recalled.

It’s OK. I figured Target’s vermin executives (Gregg Steinhafel , Robert Ulrich , Stephen Sanger , Roxanne Austin , James Johnson , Richard Kovacevich , George Tamke , Calvin Darden , Mary Minnick , Derica Rice , Mary Dillon , William Ackman , Michael Ashner , James Donald , Ronald Gilson , Richard Vague ) would eventually get their cockroach-like antennae to focus on the video I posted of their anti-union tactics. They’ve successfully taken down this video from many other sites including the Internet archive. You see Blip.tv, just like cockroaches, these “things” I’ve just mentioned scatter when the light is shined on them. I understand that you are doing your job Blip.tv and I commend you for notifying me, but this garbage cannot be allowed to go unknown and unnamed.

Jason

On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 6:42 PM, Blip.tv Support wrote:

I’m sorry, but I had to remove one of your videos from blip.tv because we received a Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice. We follow the procedure described at http://blip.tv/dmca. If you believe this material was not infringing copyright, you may submit a counter notice as described at http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/faq.cgi#QID132.

Thank you,
blip.tv Support

Posted via email from Jason’s posterous

So the other day I blogged about Target forcing their employees to view this anti-union video they created. I later got this comment on my blog that Target is trying to pull the video off of the Internet. I noticed that the video I had linked to on Vimeo had been taken down.

More from the commenter on my blog…

Please download and spread this video, as there has been much effort at removal by Target Corp.
Upload to any and all available servers!!
Here is a link. I am attempting to upload it to MegaVideo which has been giving me trouble as well as others. I don’t have much time.
Here is a link to the native file. Unsure how much longer it will be up. try to upload it anywhere you can. Thanks very much!
http://www.archive.org/details/TargetAnti-unionTraining

I’ll do my best to spread the word!

Like many a corporation it would seem that Target is now joining the bandwagon when it comes to attempting to fill their employees heads with anti-union propaganda. There is an interesting suggestion on how people could fight back by producing and distributing their own videos to Target employees.

A counter argument should be made. And since Companies and CEOs have addresses and spending habits of people, the union should have them also, and mail dvds with the counter argument to all Target employees. Of course if getting those addresses is not feasible, which is probable. People that care about Americans and workers rights could pass them out to target workers outside of Target stores.

This actually sounds like fun! This should be done with all corporations because after all, the real reason corporations are anti-union can be summed up below.

The irony of it is union workers make more then non union workers, non union retail workers have less pay, less health care and less benefits then union retail workers, the real reason the training video wants to smear unions with deception, is money for companies not money for employees.