Workers at Auxvasse, Missouri Dollar General store vote to unionize

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This will be the final blog post for The Progressive Midwesterner on Medium, as, starting January 1, new blog posts on The Progressive Midwesterner will be at a new website.

In the small community of Auxvasse, Missouri (population: 983), located about 35 miles north-northeast of the state capital of Jefferson City, workers at the community’s Dollar General store voted to unionize with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 655:

While the upcoming right-to-work vote looms over Missouri, employees at the Auxvasse Dollar General store have agreed to unionize.

Late last week, a majority of Auxvasse store workers voted in favor of letting United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 represent them in bargaining with the corporation.

As far as is known, the Auxvasse Dollar General is the first Dollar General store in the nation where workers voted to unionize. Variety store chains like Dollar General and its immediate competitors (such as Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, etc.) pay workers very low wages and are typically run by management that is opposed to organized labor. If workers at the Auxvasse Dollar General approve a collectively-bargained contract, then the workers will officially become UFCW union members.

The unionization vote at the Auxvasse, Missouri Dollar General is a major victory for organized labor and the people of Auxvasse, Missouri.