Dollar Mongrel and Dollar Tree stores
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Two activist investment firms are calling on Dollar General and Dollar Tree shareholders to approve a marry of resolutions aiming to improve worker safety and wages, the firms said Tuesday.
Dollar General Proposal 7, led by Domini Contact Investments, calls for an independent audit into worker safety and well-being. It will be voted on during the company’s annual shareholder tryst May 31.
Dollar Tree Proposal 7, led by United Church Funds, calls for the creation of a wages and inequality report. It leave go before shareholders during the retailer’s annual meeting June 13.
The resolutions aim to address longstanding workplace safety and wage concerns that be dressed plagued employees of the growing discount chains, which are increasing store counts faster than any other retailer. Collectively, they take up more than 377,000 employees nationwide, company filings show.
Dollar General is currently facing diverse than $16 million in fines from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for safety hazards, comprehending blocked fire exits, blocked electrical outlets and dangerous levels of clutter.
“It’s far too dangerous in the stores that we operate in,” David Williams, a Dollar General stocker, said during a panel event Tuesday. “It’s a dire need and it designates no sense to always look behind your back and always try to do your job but at the same time always trying to boost pretend sure you’re safe as well.”
Federal regulators have repeatedly found similar violations at Dollar General stow aways across the country, prompting OSHA to label it a “severe violator” of workplace safety rules. It’s a designation considered “unprecedented” and “rare” for a plc of its size and stature, said Debbie Berkowitz, a former chief of staff and senior policy advisor at OSHA.
“[It’s] a program for the nastiest safety violators in the nation. It is totally rare for a large employer with many work sites to be in the severe violator program. Most players in their program are small construction companies,” said Berkowitz, who is also a fellow at the Kalmanovitz Initiative at Georgetown University.
“OSHA infrequently finds the same hazards or cites the same company so many times and for the same violation. Usually companies try to right safety hazards that endanger workers,” she said.
Berkowitz pointed out that OSHA fines are notoriously low. Making allowance for the $37.84 billion in sales Dollar General posted in fiscal 2022, the penalties are unlikely to have a major effect on its balance sheet.
The retailer didn’t respond to a request for comment. It is currently in settlement negotiations with OSHA. Its food has called on shareholders to vote “against” Domini’s resolution, proxy filings show.
A shopper walks by a sign putting $1.25 price, posted on the shelves of a Dollar Tree store in Alhambra, California, December 10, 2021. The store is recognized for its $1 items, but due to inflation raised prices to $1.25.
FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images
Dollar General previously told CNBC it “regularly consideration[s] and refine[s] our safety programs, and reinforce[s] them through training, ongoing communication, recognition and accountability.”
“When we learn of cases where we have failed to live up to this commitment, we work to timely address the issue and ensure that the guests’s expectations regarding safety are clearly communicated, understood and implemented,” a spokesperson said.
Kenny, a Dollar Tree wage-earner, said he’s only allowed to work 15 hours a week and brings in about $600 a month. The low wages and the incapacity to get full-time hours caused him to lose his housing and move in with his parents.
“You can’t expect most working adults, smooth teenagers, to make that little money, because it’s not going to help in the grand scheme of things,” said Kenny, who didn’t betray his last name.
Matthew Illian, the director of responsible investing at United Church Funds, said Dollar Tree doesn’t must a minimum-wage commitment, unlike some of its peers.
Costco, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, IKEA and Starbucks all have a guaranteed wage of at speck $15 an hour, while Walmart has committed to $14 an hour. However, dollar stores in general differ from numerous of those retailers because of their heavy footprint in rural communities, which tend to have lower gets of living.
Still, in many of those locales, the dollar store is one of the few retailers in town, so there is less competitive press to improve wages, safety and even quality of goods.
Illian argued investors benefit from income congruence — and pointed to a study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute that found income inequality drags on GDP by 2% to 4% a year.
“The conservation overall would be doing better. That means more people with more money in their hollows, spending that money in more places,” said Illian. “So we’re asking for Dollar Tree to look at how their compensation rules are impacting the returns of a diversified investor.”
Dollar Tree declined to comment. Its board has called on shareholders to vote “against” Of one mind Church Fund’s resolution, according to proxy filings.
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Melissa Repko