(editor’s note: we interviewed our fellow Target team member Joseph Viramontez who is a six year veteran with mega backroom skills currently working at Target store #2320 in Dickinson, Texas. Joseph is engaging in protected concerted activity by speaking out on his team’s work conditions and what they want to see changed in-store and corporate-wide)

We heard you and your fellow team members were having trouble with Target Corporation and your in-store management, could you go into more detail about what those problems are?

Joseph V: My entire store’s morale is in the gutter. We have issues with scheduling and communication. Not hours wise, but more of breaking OSHA regulations. Team members are always scheduled in ways where they get no time to rest or it goes completely against their school schedules. Sometimes  team members only get four hours in between shifts. As far as communication goes there’s no knowing exactly what we’re supposed to do for the day. Come in during the midday and your morning Lead On Duty will assign tasks, then your Team Lead will give you more. It gets extremely confusing for newer team members and causes a huge mess in our back room. And don’t even get me started on the poor leadership at my store. It’s so bad we’re almost a month behind in freight right now. Thousands in toys just sitting in the back.

How long have you been a Target team member?

Joseph V: I have been a team member for just about six years. I’ve worked every piece concerning Logistics. Currently I am the Senior SFS TM and I have been in SFS for three years.

So you’ve been around long enough to see how things have developed and changed form when you first started, what are some of those changes you’ve noticed over the years?

Joseph V: As time has gone by I’ve noticed how little the company cares for it’s employees. They want them to constantly do more with less resources while not seeing the stress they put on their employees. It’s almost as if we’re in a toxic relationship with the company, and I say that because management will often gaslight their best assets for things already out of their control. The more the store “modernizes” the worse it gets.

Do you think Target protects bad bosses?

Joseph V: Yes. In a straight and simple answer. I’ve had racist and sexist bosses. Even when an entire team has gone to report it, nothing is done. Instead they get promotions, putting them in better situations to get their way and manipulate team members until eventually no one questions their authority. All because that leadership is “brand”.

You’ve said that you and coworkers have tried to through the internal channels Target provides to no avail, what do you think is the answer to getting these issues addressed?

Joseph V: We need to finally step up and say something. We have this yearly best team survey that is supposed to help corporate get an inside feel for each team, but instead of following up with the team members, corporate will always go to leadership who will say what corporate wants to hear versus what’s needed to be said. We don’t have a voice, and we need one. A single message that says we’re through being mistreated. We love the jobs we do, otherwise we wouldn’t have stayed for so long! There’s still hope even now when it’s at it’s worst.

What do you think needs to happen to make Target jobs good jobs?

Joseph V: The jobs aren’t that bad in my experience. It’s the “leadership”. They all want to be corporate pleasers vs doing the things to make the company more successful. They’re trying so hard to be the BEST everything store. They forget that happier team members work harder. Help us and we help you! We matter. We’re the biggest moving part. And if we all stopped one day then they would see. Hopefully things don’t have to go that far. We just want to be heard. We want to be taken care of.

“I’ve been with the company for 16 years. Been a lead for 6 years. This year, this job has given me serious anxiety that I have never had before with this company. I want to lead and develop a team to perform at the highest level but the expectations and capacity to complete all the tasks this company wants is absolutely unrealistic. It makes me feel like a failure and a heartless leader having to judge an employee who has been there for 3 months based on an employee with years of experience.

Basically if they aren’t perfect at the beginning, they are gone. And guess what, you are not going to find perfect at $12 an hour working 25 hours a week. Everyday feels like a chaotic mess even when you make plans. Some changes are great but the means to make the process flawless needs some major reform. I contemplate leaving this job daily. I am just going to use all 250+ hours of my vacation before I do it because I have earned it and they aren’t going to give it to me if I leave.”

– A Target Team Lead in Georgia

If you are tired of the way things are and want to make Target jobs good jobs get in touch with us here!

This past July Target team members at Target store #1265 began to organize and formed a workers committee to hold their abusive and racist STL accountable by demanding his termination as they went on strike. They won their demand, yet the in-store management tried to retaliate on Target team members for exercising their rights. As a result the Cockeysville Target team members filed charges with the NLRB and as the above letter indicates they won their case.

The following interview is with the lead organizer Erica Feldenzer of the Target workers committee at store #1265:

TWU: So earlier this year you and some other Target team members at Target # decided to go on strike against your racist boss and you were successful in holding him and others accountable for abusing fellow team members. What has happened since then?

Erica F: we were successful in getting 6 to 7 managers fired or forcing them to quit the store. Since then there have been many managers replaced and some similar issues have come up, but we were able to resolve some of the more glaring examples of discrimination in the workplace. One of the managers at the store that we protested against is still working here and there’s been several complaints filed against him at the level of corporate and they still haven’t fired him or reprimanded him.

TWU: We see that your new STL sent a personal letter to you assuring you and your team members they won’t retaliate anymore for exercising your labor rights. Why do you think it was important to file a charge with the NRLB over this?

Erica F:  I think it was important to file a charge with the NLRB over interrogation, demotion, and surveillance because this contributes to setting a precedent for people in positions of power to not abuse said power in violation of the rights of their workers. Furthermore, it gives other workers in similar situations the hope that they can use their voice to speak out against abuses of power in the workplace.

TWU: Where do you see things going from here? Do you plan to keep exercising your rights to make Target jobs better jobs?

Erica F: As long as I work at Target and even after leaving this job I will continue to challenge the norms of bad behavior and abuses of power in retail. Ignorance is bliss and if we can disturb said bliss we can start to do the real work and give working class people sustainable jobs and financial security.

TWU: What would you say to all the other team members out there who may be scared to exercise their rights?

Erica F: While I won’t deny that it is scary to face your oppressors, things will continue to get worse if you remain silent in the face of oppression. Find other workers that have similar feelings and make sure that you can build a strong support system within your workplace that can support you in facing these difficult dilemmas.

If you are fed up with the lack of respect and compensation from Target Corp we want to hear from you! Send us a message here and read up on how you can unite with the rest of us Target team members who are committed to making Target jobs good jobs!