Black Friday brought forward. While many parents, grandparents and children wandered into the stores on Tuesday, the first day of school closures due to the strike, some retailers juggled the schedules of their employees who themselves had to be absent for take care of their kids, just a few days before the busiest time of the year.
“It’s not normal to let him eat ice cream at that hour,” says Elisabeth McGunnigle with a laugh, seated with a coffee at the Carrefour Laval food court in the company of her grandson, William. Even great-grandmother, Ivy McGunnigle, was there on a day when many had set their sights on the stores to kill time.
The holiday atmosphere, with the music, the decorations and the presence of Santa Claus, was already felt at the start of this abnormally busy week in the shopping center which gave the impression that Black Friday had been brought forward. “It’s rare that we come here,” recognizes Marie-Eve Landry. Accompanied by her son Léonard, she took advantage of this forced day off to go shopping.
And with Black Friday just days away, which marks the busiest time of year for retailers, some have had to resort to juggling the schedules of their employees who stay at home with their children.
As for the Nero Bianco Group (Club Chaussures, Nero Bianco, Panda), president Jean-François Transon admits that normally, a few days before the famous Black Friday, he is used to having more employees on the floor. However, this week, he cannot count on this surplus and must review his schedules.
At Mode Choc, which has 11 stores in Quebec, it is more the situation at the head office that concerns co-owner Jessika Roussy. “We have a lot of young mothers, so it’s more complex for them at the moment and it could have more impact in the long term,” she says. In our stores, there is no impact on our opening hours because we also have older employees in our teams, so they are not all young parents. On the other hand, if it were to last longer, there could be consequences on operations. »
Like stores, cinemas have also been taken over by young customers. For the occasion, Cinémas Guzzo have announced that they will be exceptionally open from 10:30 a.m. on November 21, 22 and 23. At the Central Market branch on Tuesday, several of them were already showing up at 10 a.m. at a counter that was still closed. While several grandparents were on “duty”, Paw Patrol, Trolls or The Kingdom of Elves, three films on display, came to the rescue to keep the little ones occupied.
After keeping them for the night, Johanne Dubé, grandmother of William and Anabelle, came to see Trolls 3: New Tour. “He’s going to miss school,” she said, pointing at the 10-year-old boy. They almost weren’t able to spend time with their grandmother this week since Ms. Dubé has just retired as a support worker in a school. If the strike had been called a few months earlier, she too would have taken to the streets with her colleagues.
Furthermore, other industries where teleworking is impossible are also juggling the situation. A helping hand from loved ones, vacation banks and leave for family and personal reasons: this is how many employees of manufacturing companies – who cannot telework – adapted to this work stoppage. three days.
For many companies, we seemed to have avoided the worst… for now. “I expected a greater impact,” explains Serge Leblanc, president of electrical equipment distributor Lumen. “But maybe it’s the calm before the storm. Everyone seems to have been able to organize for three days, but the unlimited part of the strike could be more complicated. »
Lumen, which also specializes in cable cutting, has more than 400 employees in Laval, where its head office and warehouse are located. The company, which belongs to the Sonepar Group, also operates a network of 40 branches.
Mr. Leblanc admits: Friday, when the indefinite general strike of the Autonomous Federation of Education is due to begin, he does not “know how it will go.” On Tuesday, the manager did not yet have a defined plan to try to mitigate the impacts of a prolonged walkout within his workforce.
In Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, at the kitchen and bathroom cabinet manufacturer Miralis, less than 5% of the approximately 150 “team members” in the manufacturing portion of the place have took leave because of the strike, says Valérie Brière, director of brand and communications.
Since the education network unions had announced their colors in advance, the company had time to survey its employees to get an idea of the plan to put in place. “Last week, we hammered home the same message of transparency, taking care to emphasize that no one would be punished,” says Ms. Brière. We just wanted to know how to prepare. Everyone who couldn’t be at work took either vacation or paid time off. »
At Miralis, the collective agreement provides for “family days”, paid leave. Several employees have turned to this option. This provides short-term flexibility. “But if it [the strike] were to last three weeks, that’s something else,” concedes Ms. Brière. Probably the absenteeism rate would be higher. »