Class War at Work - The trenches get dirtier

Here is the latest earnings report for the first quarter 2001, for Bed, Bath and Beyond:

"UNION, N.J., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. today reported net earnings of $64.3 million ($.22 per share) for the fiscal fourth quarter (fourteen weeks) ended March 3, 2001, an increase of approximately 32.9% from the $48.4 million ($.17 per share) earned in the fiscal fourth quarter (thirteen weeks) of 1999. Net sales for the fourteen weeks ended March 3, 2001 were $746.1 million, an increase of approximately 31.1% from the fiscal fourth quarter (thirteen weeks) of 1999. Comparable store sales for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2000 increased by approximately 4.9%. Comparable store sales for the fiscal fourth quarter of 1999 increased by approximately 9.6%."

This is a national chain with many stores. I work at one in a suburb of the Bay Area.

Today the manager of the store said that our store has met 30% of our 2001 sales goal, after just ONE quarter. He told us that in our district, Northern California, we have the 2nd highest profit making store. The manager also told us, during our morning meeting, that "the store belongs to all of us, we should treat it that way." This is class war Propoganda and I know that some of my co-workers also acknowledge this, however silently.

For the last two weeks, with in store profits rising, but the stock market still falling, our manager got word to cut hours drastically for floor personnel (not stockers or receiving/shipping (my dept.)) No one has been fired yet, but people previously working full-time are no longer and the rest of us are stuck basically working DOUBLE EFFORT. This doesn't mean forced overtime, as the policy that has been in place for some time now, ABSOLUTELY NO overtime is still in place, but what it does mean is that all of us are now doing the work of two people. 99% of the non-managers are lower class individuals in this society. I don't want to be rich, what I do want is to not be FUCKED over at work so that the Capitalist bosses in New Jersey can buy a new mansion or a porsche.

Slowly I have been injecting radical anti-capitalist, pro-direct action sentiment into my conversations with co-workers over this over-working. What I ultimately would like to do is initiate a SLOW DOWN of production, but people honestly FEAR FOR THEIR JOBS. I think that this sort of DIRECT ACTION is the only way to get through to Corporate.

Can anyone offer up some advice on working my co-workers, or any other type of advice?