Dollar General workers walk out in SC, NY over unsafe conditions

Employees at a Dollar General in Irmo, South Carolina, walked off the job citing health and safety hazards inside the store, while a separate six-person team staged a public walkout at Dollar General Store #16215 in the village of Esperance, New York. The Irmo action was reported in a brief item that said workers left over unsafe conditions; The Independent reported the Esperance departure and identified former assistant manager America Tillman as the person who announced the action on the Middleburgh, NY, Facebook Group.

The Independent said the Esperance walkout took place “last Thursday” and that Tillman’s post was signed by all six team members. Tillman told the Facebook group, “After years of mistreatment and difficult working conditions, the team at Dollar General Store #16215 in Esperance has made the hard decision to part ways with Dollar General.” The Independent reported the store stayed open the following Friday with staff borrowed from nearby locations and that job postings soon appeared for all positions.

The local walkouts come as Dollar General agreed to a sweeping settlement to improve safety protocols and pay $12 million in penalties, according to reporting by CNN, Business, and a Step Up Louisiana press release dated July 15, 2024. CNN said the settlement with the Department of Labor resolves contested inspections and open federal inspections, and the agreement requires Dollar General to correct any safety violations related to blocked exits or access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels within 48 hours or face fines up to $500,000 per violation. Douglas Parker, head of the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health division, said, “These changes help give peace of mind to thousands of workers, knowing that they are not risking their safety in their workplaces and that they will come home healthy at the end of each day.”

Business reporting and Step Up Louisiana’s release outlined additional company obligations tied to the settlement: significantly reduce store inventory, hire new safety managers, provide health and safety training, and develop a safety and health committee that incorporates employee input. Coleman of Step Up Louisiana said, “Dollar General is agreeing to implement four of the safety demands we’ve been advocating for for years: establishing new safety policies, creating infrastructure for store safety, hiring safety managers and incorporating worker input on new safety practices,” and added that organizers will continue pressing CEO Todd Vasos.

NPR reported prior OSHA inspections that found unsafe conditions: in January 2023 inspectors cited two Florida stores and one in Alabama, and in July 2022 inspectors found merchandise blocking exit routes at an Alabama store. NPR said the chain was issued citations for two repeat violations that resulted in nearly $205,000 in fines. CNN also noted that “dozens of Dollar General workers and customers have been killed at stores over the past decade,” and that stores have been targets for robberies and violent crimes in recent years.

Organizing groups have escalated pressure. Step Up Louisiana said that “this May” more than 200 Dollar General workers and customers protested the corporation’s annual shareholder meeting and that protests had taken place across nine states. Oxfordamerican reported workers had won a safety audit the previous year, only to see Dollar General hire a “union-busting law firm” to investigate, a review organizers called a “sham,” and included worker recollections about inadequate PPE and paid sick leave during the 2020 pandemic.

CNN described Dollar General as the fastest-growing retailer with more than 19,000 small stores, while Business called the chain’s footprint “nearly 20,000 stores.” CNN also noted the chain’s low-cost model often leaves “only one or two workers making the minimum wage” overseeing stores at a time. Dollar General did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. The recent walkouts at Irmo and Esperance, set against enforcement actions and organizer demands, illustrate ongoing pressure on the chain to translate national settlement terms into safer conditions at individual stores.