(Reuters) – More than 400 Macy’s workers in Washington state are planning a three-day strike from Black Friday through Sunday, alleging unfair labor practices and demanding better wages, according to UFCW Local 3000’s website.
The union said it was planning to start the strike on Nov. 24 at 3 a.m. PT with a parade at the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila. The fourth Friday of November is one of the busiest and most profitable days of the year at the department store chain.
The strike would be at three of Macy’s busiest stores and the workers are expected to return to duty from 3 a.m. PT on Monday.
Macy’s did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment.
As of Jan. 28, excluding seasonal employees, Macy’s had 94,570 full-time and part-time employees, of which about 8% are represented by unions, a regulatory filing showed. Its minimum wage for workers was at $15 per hour.
The UFCW Local 3000 represents more than 50,000 members working in grocery, retail, healthcare, meat packing, cannabis and other industries in Washington, Oregon and northern Idaho.
Cyber Week, the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, is one of the biggest shopping periods in the U.S. where retailers try to cash in on demand from customers looking to snap up products at the cheapest available prices.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh and Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
