May Day protests spotlight labor pressure facing Big Lots workers

May Day put a familiar retail tension back in the spotlight: workers were talking about wages, schedules and safety at the same time Big Lots was still sorting through bankruptcy fallout, store closings and layoffs. A coalition of hundreds of organizations backed May Day Strong events with calls for “no school, no work, no shopping,” turning labor talk into a visible consumer boycott message that reached far beyond factory floors and union halls.

For Big Lots employees, that mattered because the company’s own upheaval has already changed daily work in ways customers can see. Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 9, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, after first striking an asset purchase agreement with Nexus Capital Management. That deal later fell apart, and the company moved toward liquidation sales across its remaining stores.

The restructuring came in waves. Big Lots had already begun closing 295 stores by early September 2024. It identified 58 more locations for closure in a September 27 filing, then added 56 more on October 11. By December 19, 2024, the company said all remaining stores would close. It also planned permanent layoffs of up to 555 employees at its Columbus, Ohio, headquarters, underscoring how the pressure inside the business reached well beyond the sales floor.

That is why a national labor protest can feel immediate at a store-based retailer like Big Lots. Staffing levels shape whether freight gets done on time, whether registers stay open and whether workers can cover breaks without stretching an already thin crew. Scheduling affects whether a shift feels manageable or punishing. Pay and safety become even more visible when a company is shrinking, liquidation signs are up and the customer base is watching for bargains rather than long-term stability.

May Day also carries a reminder that is especially relevant to retail: International Workers’ Day grew out of the fight for the eight-hour workday. For Big Lots workers, that history still lands in practical terms. It is about whether hours are predictable, whether labor is valued during a turnaround and whether management can keep morale intact while stores are closing and the brand itself is being pulled in conflicting directions.

Big Lots’ store-locator page still showed 219 locations, a sign that the name remains visible even as the chain’s physical footprint has sharply contracted. In a year defined by protests, blackouts and calls to put workers first, the company’s labor problems are no longer just an internal issue. They are part of the public story customers see every time they walk into the store.