Christiansburg, VA: Target Workers on Strike Day 5

This day has been as incredible as the last four, and in some ways more incredible than the others. Who would have thought with only an initial small amount of Target workers and supporters we could have had such strength to impact a major corporation’s behavior? As we woke up we found out from other workers that over the last two days the Target store has not reached its sales goals, showing the strength of the strike and the community boycott to support our strike. Not only this but the mere threat of a student boycott of Target’s “College Night” event was enough to cause the shuttle service from Virginia Tech campus to the Target store to be canceled.

Early reports from workers tonight indicate the event has been a flop. In summary we have been successfully able to 1) launch an internal Target investigation against boss Daniel Butler 2) pursue the filing of charges with the EEOC 3) find legal support to pursue legal action, if workers so choose 4) garner support from the major unions and local politicians 5) shut down the shuttle service between Virginia Tech and the Target store 6) enact an effective boycott and 7) flex our rights without Target retaliating on us workers (so far). None of these accomplishments are anything to scoff at. We did this with nothing but a shoestring budget and knowledge.

One thing we have debated is how long exactly we will go on strike. There is a real threat of being replaced the longer we stay on strike and we think it is critically important that we show our coworkers that not only can we go on strike, but that we also can return to work unscathed. This is why we have resolved to call off the strike and return to work tomorrow on Monday August 28^th. We believe that we have already won our two demands, but they are both demands that take time to bear fruit. We’ve planted the seeds, they have sprouted, now we must cultivate them into maturity. Again, we cannot thank the community enough for standing up with us in our fight for justice. We will keep everyone posted with further results. We have no illusions Target will want to get rid of us for causing them such a headache, but we are in this for the long haul and this is moreso a beginning rather than an end. Stay tuned…