Gene Hoffman

Cameras Roll for Walmart 'Worker' Protests

November 26, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
While the lead retail story on the evening news this past weekend was far and away Black Friday mania, the secondary one in many markets dealt with the union-led protests at several dozen to hundreds of Walmart's across the country. How would you characterize the state of employer/employee relationship across the retail industry today?      [more...]

The relationship of employees and employers today is much like an established football rivalry. Both sides have an insatiable desire to win the glory within it and also capture any inherent "stuff."

Off-the-field social, political, fiscal and recruiting forces add or detract from that equation. Thus the rivalry continues on and on as it always engenders the hope by both sides that either victory will maintain itself or that it will eventually change its side.

Consumers are spectators in this game. They support whomever relates to their own deepest desires, which usually come ahead of team loyalty. That, to me, explains why Black Friday was such a sales success.