Workers at Midlands Dollar General strike over allegations of robberies, wage theft

Workers at the Holly Hills Dollar General went on strike Saturday to protest working conditions at the discount chain store.

On Saturday morning, employees rallied outside the store at 5208 State Road. During a morning rally, they delivered a letter to the store’s management outlining their intentions to hold a two day strike.

““We’ve been asking Dollar General to do these things for months, but Dollar General didn’t listen until we threatened to go on strike.” said Taiwanna Milligan, a keyholder at the store. “We’re following through with this strike because we have more problems that Dollar General has to fix.”

The planned strike follows what a statement released by Raise Up the South, a labor organizing movement helping coordinate the strike, described as mounting unsafe working conditions, a pattern of wage theft, and the unfair dismissal of a coworker.

Raise Up the South is a branch of Fight for $15 – an worker’s advocacy group seeking to raise the national minimum wage to $15 and hour.

In a statement provided to The State, Dollar General said “Although we disagree with certain statements made by our Holly Hill employees, as is our practice, we plan to listen to their feedback and strive to create a work environment where employees have opportunities to grow their careers, serve their local communities and feel valued and heard.”

On Tuesday, workers say they delivered a petition to management outlining their grievances. Among them, they highlighted allegedly dangerous working conditions in the store, including boxes piled in front of fire exits, a lack of security cameras and heavy shrubbery that hides the store from the street, making it a frequent target of robberies.

The management of the Holly Hill store did not respond to The State’s request for comment.

“I was a victim of robbery at work.” said Keshia Brown, an assistant manager, in a statement released through Raise Up the South. “Right after we got robbed—not even 15 minutes later—management was already telling me to open the store back up.”

In response to the petition, Milligan said that store management has cleared the store’s emergency exits and begun removing the heavy shrubbery surrounding the store.

Workers also highlighted practices that they argued amounted to wage theft, including being punched off the clock while making bank deposits for the store.

“If I worked 16.75 hours, I should get paid 16.75 hours,” Milligan told The State.

One worker, Tara Johnson, said in a statement that she was fired after she missed work to take her son to get an eye procedure, despite the absence being pre-approved by management.

In a release issued through Raise Up the South, workers said that they were considering filing complaints with both and the South Carolina Department of Labor.

Store employees say that they plan to form a union, abut they have yet to file with the National Labor Relations Board, the body that oversees collective bargaining and labor union representation.

Currently, there are no unionized Dollar General stores, according to reporting by CNN. However, this strike comes amid growing labor organizing efforts at stores in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Virginia.