New Orleans: Dollar General workers rally against store closure
By M. R. Framboise
New Orleans, LA – On July 15, former Dollar General employees rallied at the site of their former store on Earhart Boulevard to protest the company’s decision to close the store and terminate all employees without notification, severance pay or the ability to transfer to the only remaining location in Orleans Parish.
“I tried the transfer. They blocked all of us out of the system,” former employee David Williams said at the event.
Members of the Liberate and Unite New Orleans chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (LUNO SDS) were also in attendance to express their solidarity with the fired workers.
LUNO SDS member and UPS worker Silas Gillett stated, “I just found out the other day that they’re shutting our warehouse down.” He continued to draw parallels between UPS and the Dollar General closure saying, “No transfers, no severance – they’re just laying people off; that’s all we get. if they can do this to one of us, they can do this to all of us. We’ve got to show up and show out for each other.”
Workers also spoke on the hypocrisy demonstrated by Dollar General’s rejection of their “core values” when it comes to how they treat their employees. Former employee Sunshine Best said, “Dollar General says in this mission statement is ‘serving others.’”
Best continued, “Communities deserve honesty. Workers deserve respect, and accountability requires fairness.”
Through store closures and the blatant disrespect that these workers have faced, Dollar General has firmly communicated what it thinks of our communities and of the people they need to operate. The workers, however, are not discouraged. They chanted, “Worker’s rights, day and night! This ain’t right, we’re gonna fight!”