the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Dec 11, 2023
For some people in the U.S., the period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s is called “the holidays.” Some even get extra time off to gather with family and celebrate. And for many big corporations like Amazon, Walmart, or UPS, these are holidays indeed for their giant profits!
But for retail workers, delivery drivers, and many others, there is no holiday season: there is only “peak.” Hours stretch on and on with few breaks. Work weeks of six or even seven days become the norm, for a month and a half straight. Many of these workers are officially part-time—even while they’re putting in 70-hour weeks!
Workers need those hours, because pay in these industries is so low. For most of the year, workers struggle to get enough hours to pay the bills or work two or three jobs. Many workers kill their bodies during “peak,” just to save up a little to survive the rest of the year.
What a crazy system, where instead of the holidays being organized for human beings to enjoy each other’s company and celebrate, they are organized for all of these companies to maximize their profits—at the expense of a huge share of the working class.