From Dollar General and Dollar Tree to Family Dollar, dollar stores are spreading rapidly throughout Louisiana and across the country, often strategically located in low-income communities and “food deserts.” But dollar store workers notoriously have to endure low pay, understaffing, and hazardous working conditions; some workers report frequently working alone in stores and having their air conditioning controlled from corporate headquarters in another state. That’s why Step Up Louisiana, “a community based organization committed to building power to win education and economic justice for all,” is organizing employees, customers, and community members to fight for safer stores and better pay and working conditions for dollar store workers. In this episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Kenya Slaughter, who has been an organizer and frontline worker at Dollar General for a number of years, and Curtis Williams, a dollar store customer who has gotten involved in Step Up Louisiana’s campaign.
Additional links/info below…
- Step Up Louisiana’s website and Twitter page
- Kenya Slaughter, The New York Times, “I Never Planned to Be a Front-Line Worker at Dollar General“
Permanent links below…
- Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
- Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
- Jules Taylor, “Working People Theme Song”
Pre-Production/Studio: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor
TRANSCRIPT
The transcript of this interview will be made available as soon as possible.
This post was originally published on The Real News Network.