A team of six employees at a Dollar General store in the village of Esperance, New York, staged a walkout last Thursday to protest what they considered intolerable working conditions and stolen time.
Former assistant manager America Tillman announced the walk-out in a post on the Middleburgh, NY, Facebook Group, signed by all six team members. âAfter 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,â Tillman said.
Tillman told <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/the Times Union that the team didnât quit but walked out in protest, adding that she was later fired and her manager was terminated the night before. The manager was fired after reporting missing time to HR and was confronted by a regional manager while returning her keys, according to Tillman.
Other employees described upper management as demeaning and claimed donated items purchased by customers at the store were discarded or restocked after the walkout.
Tillman claimed that the store was typically staffed by just one employee per shift, with only a brief overlap of a second person for about four hours a day. Starting pay was around $15.50 to $16 an hour, while Tillman earned $18 after two years.
Although sick time was supposed to accrue for employees, she claimed that their hours mysteriously disappeared.
Despite the departure of the six-person team, the store remained open the following day, staffed by workers from other nearby locations.
Meanwhile, job postings have appeared for store manager, assistant manager and several sales associates, with pay listed at rates ranging from minimum wage up to $17.10 per hour.
The Independent has contacted Dollar General for comment.
This walk-out follows other similar incidents at Dollar General. In March 2024, employees in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, quit over low pay, seven-day workweeks, and strict donation rules.
The chain has faced repeated criticism for poor conditions, including a $12 million OSHA settlement last year over safety violations.
In 2021, one customer described the Albany, NY, South End store, later among 95 nationwide Dollar General closures, to the Times Union as a âtrain wreckâ due to cluttered, unsafe conditions.
