Dollar General employees at a Wisconsin store walked out over the weekend due to concerns over pay, work hours, the company’s donation policy, and their overall treatment.
The staff of the Dollar General in Mineral Point, a city in Iowa County, Wisconsin, stormed out for three hours on Saturday and left signs explaining why on the store’s doors and windows.
“The store is closed,” one of the signs reads. The entire team has walked away due to lack of appreciation, being overworked, and underpaid.
Another sign said, “We quit!” On the same sign, the employees thanked the store’s “amazing customers” and said, “We love you and will miss you!”
The final piece of signage left by the employees was a note thoroughly describing the employees’ dismay towards Dollar General.
“We will not work for a company that does not stand behind in true honest form of what they want the world to see them as,” the note read. “… we must take a stand for the community and not allow corporate greed to continue preventing people in need of help they need and could receive. Policies, processes and procedures need to change!”
Dollar General’s Mineral Point store reopened after closing for three hours, company says
Dollar General said, ‘We are committed to providing an environment where employees can grow their careers and where they feel valued and heard.’
“We apologize for any inconvenience our customers experienced during the three hours the Mineral Point store was closed this past weekend,” the Tennessee-headquartered company’s statement said. “The store reopened at 11 a.m. last Saturday morning and remains open to serve the community.”
It remains unclear if there were any consequences for employees who took part in the walkout.
Dollar General’s donation policy led to the walkout, former manager says
Trina Tribolet, the store’s former manager, told WKOW in Wisconsin that understaffing and excessive work hours only contributed to the employees’ decision on Saturday. According to her, the primary reason for the walkout was a disagreement about what employees were and were not able to donate.
Dollar General’s donation policy requires employees to discard items approaching the expiration date or that the store no longer sells, Tribolet told the TV station. To address the policy, employees would label items as damaged and donate them to community members, as per her statement.
According to Tribolet, the employees quit when corporate discovered their workaround and instructed them to stop.
In Dollar General’s email statement, the company addressed its donation policy.
“We are proud to serve local Wisconsin communities with donations through our Feeding America partnership at 21 stores across the state,” Dollar General said. “The Mineral Point Dollar General store has donated nearly 7,500 pounds of food to local food banks such as Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin over the past twelve months. Food safety is a top priority for Dollar General, therefore, DG stores are required to follow Company donation policies.”
