Because people simply can not wait until after they’ve digested their turkey to cash in on deep discounts, many of the major retail chains are opening earlier than usual on Black Friday this year. This is not sitting well with thousands of Target employees who have signed a petition for the store to at least let them finish their pumpkin pie before having to report to work.

As of now, more than 9,000 people have signed this petition asking Target HQ to wait until 5 a.m. on Black Friday to open the stores.

Reads the petition:

A midnight opening robs the hourly and in-store salary workers of time off with their families on Thanksgiving Day. By opening the doors at midnight, Target is requiring team members to be in the store by 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation — all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night’s rest on Thanksgiving!

“All Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones on Thanksgiving,” the creator of the petition, a Target employee in Nebraska, tells CBS. “With the midnight opening, employees like myself will have to leave for work right in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. We don’t mind hard work, but cutting into our holidays is a step too far… If Target doesn’t reverse its decision and allow associates to spend Thanksgiving holidays with their family, they might suffer from a fast-growing consumer backlash.”

A manager of a Michigan Target tell CBS Detroit, “We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve… I don’t like the fact I have to come in on Thanskgiving, but when you work in retail it’s the nature of the beast.”

Retail Workers Fight Back, Want Stores Closed On Thanksgiving [CBSlocal.com]

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