Dollar General Employees Describe Managers' Aggressive Resistance To Union Drive

Dollar General employees are facing serious pressure and hostility from corporate managers who oppose their efforts to unionize at a location in Connecticut.

Employees who spoke to the Guardian described how Dollar General’s corporate managers are fighting a union drive by employees in Barkhamsted, Connecticut. Workers there detailed what they say amounts to a campaign of harassment and intimidation against those who they believe would cast a Yes vote for a union at the store.

To do this, they say Dollar General began sending corporate managers to the store to persuade employees individually to vote against the union initiative. They also reportedly deployed union avoidance consultants, who specialize in union-busting campaigns, to the branch. One unnamed employee explained that they went out of their way to avoid these individuals, but they were continuously hounded to the point that they sought out therapy for anxiety.

Dollar General is considered the fastest-growing retailer in the U.S., but it has a history of resisting union drives at its stores.

In one example, a store in Missouri pushed to unionize in December 2017 but encountered steep resistance from Dollar General. The clash over the union effort soon escalated into a court battle which concluded in February 2020 when a federal judge ruled that the union was entitled to recognition. However, local media reported that the store was closed shortly after by management over profitability concerns.

Dollar General’s employees join those at other stores across the country that are pushing to unionize in the face of resistance from corporate managers.

The most prolific battle over unions has taken place among Amazon warehouse employees, who attest to being made to work in grueling conditions. A prolific vote to unionize an Alabama warehouse was successfully resisted by Amazon, but the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the U.S.' largest union, has since pledged to make unionizing Amazon employees a top priority after this failure.

States have moved ahead with efforts to protect employees from being made to work in similarly poor environments. The Biden administration has also expressed its support for workers looking to unionize and has launched measures to help expand unionization efforts.