For several years in a row now, my mom -- a Kmart employee -- has missed out moments from our family’s Thanksgiving Day traditions like so many other retail workers across the country. While some retailers are reversing this trend in 2015, we’re guessing that allowing employees to celebrate Thanksgiving Day as family holiday is a thing of the past for Kmart workers and their families. Last year, thousands of Kmart employees and their supporters joined my campaign to allow employees to have Thanksgiving Day off. We heard from dozens of other Kmart employees that while the company said they would rely on employees who volunteered to work on Thanksgiving, but that was often not the case. What’s more: many employees didn’t even know when they were scheduled to work until the last minute. It’s already the beginning of November and Kmart has yet to announce their Thanksgiving day hours, and employees like my mom do not know what to expect for the upcoming holiday schedule. This makes planning for the holidays even more difficult for workers and the family and friends in their lives. While some employees have heard that the company will try to rely on volunteers, it’s unclear if that will really be the case in the end. Without knowing the store hours, it is impossible to tell. Kmart can at least make planning and enjoying the very limited time families spread across the country get to spend together easier by letting employees know right away when they will be expected to work; by relying on those employees who volunteer to work on Thanksgiving to earn extra pay; and by committing to not make last minute changes that wreak havoc on retail workers’ lives.

Working a floor set shift is basically like coming in and setting up a brand new store. We need to fill under-stocked items with all remaining products we have (so that we don't have to constantly run to the back and search for product); box up old merchandise which will no longer be sold on the sales floor; clean (which takes a long time since it includes picking up extra props and all the empty boxes we're taking the new products out of); take out the trash several times; mop and sweep the floor; and more. Having been at B&BW for a year now, I've worked every floor set and we don't leave until 2-3 AM if we are lucky. Managers will send several people home in the middle of the floor set because they say they "have no more hours" they are allowed to use employees for. If we run out of time and the store still isn't in a condition that is ready to open to the public the next day, some of us basically have to volunteer to stay longer to finish the job. It is stressful and counterproductive to constantly be told to hurry and move faster when we want to do our task correctly. More often than not, during the next few days -- which should be productive sales days -- we spend time fixing what wasn't finished on the night of floor set since enough employees weren't given enough hours to do it right. This takes away from customer experience. This is important to not only me, but likely my fellow co-workers and managers because we need the extra time to use on detail and making sure we are doing what is fully expected of us.

When I worked extra hours at Starbucks in California, I received overtime pay because of state laws. But when I transferred to another Starbucks in North Carolina, I no longer received overtime pay even though I have been working extra hours in my new location. As overtime pay regulations often vary by state, Starbucks partners in many locations don't receive the same compensation for working long hours. A lot of us put our personal lives on hold and for different reasons when we have to stay at work longer. We love the company and love what we do, but we're not paid equally across the United States. Please join me in asking Starbucks to address this disparity by providing overtime pay to all partners across the country regardless of where we live.

My life is hectic but I manage to make it all work. I go to school at night and -- until July -- worked two part time jobs to make ends meet. One of my jobs was working as a barista for more than 2 years at a Starbucks in New Haven, CT. At Starbucks, I often worked back to back closing and then opening shifts - with 7 or 8 hours between shifts. Among Starbucks baristas this is known as a "clopening." Last year, my store didn’t have a manager so I was clopening more than 6 times a month! Lately, because of my second job, I clopened 1-2 times a month. And because of high turnover in the store, my boss started scheduling me wherever they needed me instead of taking into account my second job and school schedules. In July, I was called in to work at the last minute, even though I was needed at my other job. My manager wrote me up because I was unable to get a replacement for a time I wasn't even scheduled for. This isn’t right - my time counts. And when the store was understaffed on closing shifts, I was forced to stay even later than my scheduled shift in order to make sure the store was ready to open for the morning rush. Because I was frequently scheduled for clopening shifts, I got just 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. I was doing all I could to get ahead, but Starbucks’ scheduling practices made me question whether that was possible and I parted ways with Starbucks. Even though I no longer work there, I know I am not the only partner struggling with these issues. I want to help all my former coworkers by asking the company to give workers 11 hours of rest between shifts in all U.S. stores, across the board so we aren’t at the mercy of individual managers Many of us have different experiences at Starbucks, depending on our manager. Please join me in asking Starbucks for consistent protections across the company, starting with healthy schedules across the board.

The SumTotal timekeeping system has created many problems for Local 1482 members working at Brooklyn Public Library. One of the biggest problems we experience is the requirement to clock out for meal breaks during daytime shifts. Most importantly, this policy interferes with our ability to provide quality customer service. We are routinely forced to choose between offering immediate assistance to a patron and finding a computer so that we can clock back in on time. For the same reason, we are often compelled to take less than the full 45 minutes of meal break time we are entitled to under the terms of our working conditions contract. Also, since members are not required to clock out for meal breaks during late night shifts we often forget to do so during daytime shifts. As a result, supervisors spend too much of their time in SumTotal fixing these honest mistakes as they occur. For all these reasons, we seek an end to a confusing, inconsistent, and burdensome policy that is not compatible with the nature of our work.

It's important because if you are struggling to earn a living, two or more jobs may be required. These call-in shifts require you to be available for their business needs, yet if they do not need you that day, you missed out on possibly having a guaranteed shift elsewhere. It makes it difficult for those who have school, need childcare, use public transportation, or just having a life outside of work in general. Please let's stop this unpredictable scheduling! It does not give us any value as employees as everything else solely revolves around business needs!

Right now, hourly "associates" are scheduled from week-to-week on an inconsistent schedule and a lot of the times the following week's schedules are published on the previous Friday. But sales managers are able to get their schedules a month in advance. Since we get our schedules with such little advance notice, it’s really difficult to plan everything we need to do in our lives outside of work. If I want to schedule a doctor appointment or any trips with the family, instead of being able to plan ahead around my work schedule, I have to request days off in advance. That means I often lose hours which means a lower paycheck that week because I didn't know ahead of time when I was going to work. In addition to not getting our schedules far enough in advance, the communication around schedules and any changes to them needs to be improved. The only way to see an up-to-date schedule is to come in to the store. If you are working part-time or if you are not working during the weekend when schedules are posted, there is no way to know your schedule unless you call. Even worse, when changes are made to the schedules posted in the store, it isn’t properly communicated to employees. People have been fired because the schedule has changed without notice so they didn’t know they were expected to work a shift. The manager who changed the schedule almost never calls and there is nothing automated (like an email) that tells anyone of any changes -- you are expected to call everyday to find out. I’ve worked in other stores that have schedules posted online or send you an email alert when your schedule has changed. Dick’s Sporting Goods already pays us way below poverty level -- since that isn't changing anytime soon, at least improve your scheduling and communication practices. Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/people/fanofretail/

Thousands of people have worked for years for Microsoft via contractors-vendors, without having any paid time off. We think Microsoft's new policy should be fully implemented as soon as possible and Memorial Day seems a perfect and very symbolic date to start providing paid leave. Considering the present compensation rate of the 37 or so Tier1 tester/reviewers working for Microsoft and paid via Lionbridge Technologies we estimate the cost for one paid leave day is $5204. In comparison, Lionbridge CEO, Rory Cowan made last year between $1.522.275 and $2.89 million (that's including part of his stock options). Taking into account his $1.5 million compensation, one paid leave day for the 37 employees represents less than one day of Cowan's income and less than 4 hours when choosing his $2.9 million income. For the first quarter of 2015, Lionbridge posted record earnings and bought back 254.000 shares of its common stock for $1.4 million. We don't see any technical or financial obstacle to providing Memorial Day as a holiday for all contract employees and it would be a tangible sign that Microsoft takes its commitment seriously and will implement it promptly.

I’m a huge fan of Apple products. Growing up, I didn't have access to technology at home but the first computer I ever used was an Apple computer at school. When I was finally able to purchase my first personal computer, I chose Apple not just for its intuitive design features but also because I believed that the brand represented values that I also hold-- values like innovation, individuality, and-- what I've always found singular and inspiring in a tech company-- humanity. For me, Apple has always represented a brand that puts people first. It's why I have always chosen Apple at home and why I am proud to use the company’s technology to advocate for civil rights every day at work. That’s also why I was disappointed to learn that the company does not extend these same principles to their employees and chooses not to provide Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday for its employees. Despite its incredible reputation for innovation -- and despite using MLK’s image in its advertising -- Apple does not appear to “think different” when it comes to honoring Dr. King’s legacy. Many top Silicon Valley tech companies including Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Ebay, Glassdoor, HP, LinkedIn, Square, and Uber observe this important federal holiday according to reports, but not Apple. In fact, a Bloomberg survey found that 37% of all US employers plan to observe MLK Day as a paid day off in 2015 -- the highest percentage yet. Apple has reportedly agreed to offer a donation of $50 to charity for each hour an employee volunteers for MLK Day of Service, but the company can and should do more by providing a day off for employees so that even more can fully participate and give back to their communities. As Coretta Scott King wrote, “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for celebration and remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service. It is a day of volunteering to… [build] the beloved community of his dream.” While Apple has generous vacation policies in many ways, as a leader in this area, Apple can surely participate in this important historic holiday as well. By joining other companies in observing MLK Day, Apple will demonstrate its commitment to a diverse staff and customer base and to the achievements of the civil rights movement. Please join me in asking Apple to “think different” on its stance on this policy and provide employees with a paid day off to observe MLK Day.

Lisa's story: My name is Lisa Austin and I work in Apple Valley, MN at Walmart #2642. On December 28, 2014 I was disciplined for staying home to take care of my seven-month-old child while my husband was away training with the National Guard.* The training was on the weekend of December 7, 2014. Per Walmart policy, I requested the days off close to two months in advance but was still written up for the days missed. Now I am close to being terminated and am afraid I will lose my job if I have to miss work if Walmart doesn’t approve future dates that my husband is away. The store manager told me that “my absence was inexcusable and everyone has kids.” I was told that I cannot have another absence until June 14, 2015. Military families sacrifice on a daily basis when their spouse is deployed or away from their loved ones. Should a Military spouse sacrifice her child or her job for just needing a day off to care for their baby? Walmart can help associates like Lisa and show its respect for military families by amending its leave policy today. Please join us in showing your support by signing this petition for a national policy that helps all our military families who work at Walmart across the country. *Since I started working at Walmart in October 2014, I had not been working there long enough to qualify for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: UFCW and OUR Walmart have the purpose of helping Wal-Mart employees as individuals or groups in their dealings with Wal-Mart over labor rights and standards and their efforts to have Wal-Mart publically commit to adhering to labor rights and standards. UFCW and OUR Walmart have no intent to have Walmart recognize or bargain with UFCW or OUR Walmart as the representative of Walmart employees.

Gives people more time to spend with family. Working from 12pm to 8pm is not a good way to spend most of Thanksgiving. If I could work from 9am to 2pm or even 12pm to 5pm I think your associates would be way more happier. This is coming from someone who you would call "irrelevant" but what I'm stating is how everyone feels.

This is important because family is the basis of what made this country what it once was and should be again... A nation founded on belief in morality and the true values of what is important, other than the "Almighty dollar."