Toys R Us Workers Start Severance Pay Petition

WAYNE, NJ — Thousands of Toys R Us employees are demanding severance pay following the company's announcement last week it would be liquidating all of its U.S. stores.

Nearly 7,000 people have signed a petition stating that the company's 31,000 employees deserve severance pay in following the company's bankruptcy announcement earlier this month.

Toys R Us executives are slated to receive millions in bonuses.

Toys R Us CEO David Brandon's base salary is $3.7 million and, according to the petition, five of the company's top executives receive $8.2 million in retention bonuses and Brandon received $2.8 million. He also asked the court to approve another $12 million in incentive bonuses, the petition states.

"This corporate greed is hurting me and my family. And it’s unacceptable," said the petition's creator Mikey Fox. "We’re losing our jobs and our livelihoods while these executives gave themselves huge payoffs."

A federal bankruptcy judge ruled late last year that Toys R Us may pay 17 executives about $14 million in incentive bonuses if it hits a certain earnings amount.

Toys R Us’ private equity owners KKR & Co., Bain Capital, and Vornado Realty Trust will also receive hundreds of millions with this liquidation, according to We Are Retail, a nationwide organization of retail workers.

Colleen Kleven said working for Toys R Us has been her dream job since she was 4.

"It’s really heartbreaking knowing I'm losing my dream job this way. I don't know what I'm gonna do after this," Kleven said. "My family really does depend on me and this job.”

Originally, employees were told they would be be compensated if they stayed until the company shut down operations. But that does not appear to be the case now, according to employees.

"We were told if we stayed till the end we would be compensated. Now it looks like we're not getting severance pay after-all, and my coworkers are giving up and quitting," said Dyann Rosales, a full-time employee. "But I can't. I have to provide for my 8-year-old daughter. I don't know what to do. If I can't find a job right away I'm going to have to rely on public assistance. I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent."

Billionaire and MGA Entertainment Inc. CEO Isaac Larian started a $1 billion GoFundMe campaign to save Toys R Us. More than $200 million was donated to the campaign on its first day.

In New Jersey, the 70-year-old company's Flanders distribution center has already closed down. More than 1,100 people will lose their jobs when the Wayne headquarters closes May 14.

Toys R Us founder Charles Lazarus, 94, died Thursday.

Closing sales have already begun at 180 of the company's Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores following the company's filing for bankruptcy protection in September. The company announced March 15 it would close or sell its U.S. stores.

The bankruptcy filing came amid slumping sales and mounting debt, which grew to about $5 billion, although Toys R Us announced at the time that the "vast majority" of its 1,600 worldwide locations were profitable.

The once-dominant retailer struggled to compete with online retail giant Amazon and stores like Walmart, The New York Times reported, and amassed $5 billion in debt.

Toys R Us had a $400 million debt payment due this year and was "burning through cash," the Times reported, and hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis to devise a strategy moving forward.

Related: Toymakers Launch Last-Ditch Effort To Save Toys R Us
Related: Toys R Us Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Outlines Strategy
Related: Toys R Us Closing Is The End Of An Era
Related: Toys R Us Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Outlines Strategy
Related: Charles Lazarus, Toys R Us Founder, Dies At 94

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Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images for Toys R Us