‘Dollar’ store workers in New Orleans protest for increased pay, better working conditions
17th January 2023 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Workers at “dollar” discount stores in Louisiana have banded together to call for safer working conditions and better pay in the wake of multiple violent incidents at area dollar stores.
A CNN review found that at least six Dollar General workers died during armed robberies from 2016 to 2020, and during that same period the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed more than $3.3 million in penalties for safety violations at Dollar General stores nationwide. Earlier this month, a Dollar Tree worker in Ohio was killed inside the store by a man wielding a machete.
Last month, more than 100 people turned out for a rally and second line walk in New Orleans. The event came two days after four people were shot by an assailant at the Dollar Tree store in Gentilly, a tragic event that helped the protestors further strengthen their resolve and determination to achieve better working conditions, said Kenya Slaughter, an employee at the Dollar General store in Alexandria and a spokesperson for the protesters.
Slaughter called the protest “historic” and described it as the “largest protest ever at a Dollar Store in Louisiana.” She said that not much has been heard from the stores’ headquarters in response to the rally, but noted that “worker participation [in the protests], community engagement and media attention [of the protesters] have all increased.”
“This action was a big step forward on safety,” Slaughter said. “We clearly outlined our demands.”
Shawn Byrd, another protester spokesperson who works at the Family Dollar store on Almonaster Avenue in New Orleans, agreed that the second line and rally were very encouraging for their cause.
“The second line was great,” he said. “There were people from out of state in our organization that stepped up.”
He added that he would have liked to see more employees of New Orleans dollar stores turn up to the December rally, but the gathering was still very productive and encouraging.
“I enjoyed it, and a lot of my customers [saw] it and got inspired from what I said [at the rally], and I get a lot of positive attention from it …. [but] the second line was only one step forward.”
The rally began at the corner of St. Claude and Franklin avenues, with the second line proceeding from there, traveling to the Family Dollar on Almonaster Avenue and back to St. Claude and Franklin.
The event and dollar-store employee campaign have been organized and sponsored by Step Up Louisiana, a statewide advocacy group dedicated to reform and justice in education, the justice system and the local economy.
The protesters drew up a detailed list of demands which include, in particular, an increase in salary to a living wage of $25 per an hour, as well the addition of several measures to protect workers’ safety, such as hiring community safety managers; getting to full staffing capacity; enhanced infrastructure and building designs that focus on worker safety; the establishment of a company safety code and policy; and more worker input in the development of better safety standards.
Officials at corporate headquarters for both Dollar General and Family Dollar/Dollar Tree didn’t respond to multiple inquiries for comments from The Louisiana Weekly.
Slaughter said the group has already planned additional events to get their message out, including an organizer-in-training program, in which 10 store workers and customers will participate in a 10-week course “to deepen our understanding of how to organize and talk to workers from across the state.”
She added that protesters also hope to increase public interest in their mission through lobbying sessions to state legislators in Baton Rouge, fighting for a workers’ bill of rights in New Orleans, and appearing at the next corporate board and shareholder meetings for the corporation.
Byrd said the protesters need to continue working hard to fully capture the companies’ attention, and he’s worried about possibly being fired for his participation in the rally and protests. He hopes he can continue working on the protest movement despite personal issues in his life taking up much of his time and attention.
But because his family is struggling financially – to the point that family members’ utilities have been turned off at times – Byrd said he’ll remain committed to doing what he can.
“My goals right now are to keep fighting,” he said, “and never to think people are stronger than you …My only goal from this campaign is to help people live a day-to-day life with more than half of the stress they have [to be] gone.”
Jason Kerzinski with Facing South, the online magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies, www.southern-studies.org, contributed to this reporting.
This article originally published in the January 16, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
