Why can’t retail workers make ends meet? As retail companies move to a part-time workforce, retail workers are juggling last-minute assignments and schedules that change from week to week. Unpredictable schedules make it hard to get a second job, arrange childcare, or go to school.
CUP worked with the Retail Action Project (RAP), and designers Joshua Graver and Maxwell Sorensen to make a short animation about the changing scheduling practices in the retail industry. Shifty Business helps retail workers understand that their experiences are not isolated events, but a systemic approach to cost-cutting by their employers. It also helps policy makers see the effect these practices have on workers’ lives.
RAP is using the video in their campaign to organize for a fair workweek, push for corporate accountability, and pass stronger city and state legislation. Shifty Business was projected onto a building at RAP’s May Day rally in SoHo on May 1, and officially premiered at the Workers Unite Film Festival on May 12, 2014.