Mediaite Columnist Concha on CNN: If People Want to Work on Thanksgiving, Let Them!

A number of big department stores are open on Thanksgiving, a new trend in recent years. CNN’s Erin Burnett tackled the issue with comedian Dean Obeidallah and Mediaite editor Joe Concha. Obeidallah didn’t like the idea of people being forced to work on a holiday, but Concha argued that if people want to work on Thanksgiving to make time-and-a-half, they should get to.

Obeidallah argued that keeping big department stores open is “unfair to the employees that work there.” Concha pointed out that plenty of industries, including gas stations and hospitals and takeout restaurants are open on Thanksgiving because people need them.

Obeidallah noted that many of those industries are used to working on Thanksgiving by now, but department stores doing it is a much more recent idea. Burnett and Concha argued that people get paid overtime for working during the holiday period, and Concha said stores should at least give people “the ability to have that opportunity” if they decide they want to make money.

Watch the video below, via CNN:

[photo via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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