The Washington Post: The worker revolt comes to a Dollar General in Connecticut
A call to a union triggers one of the most lopsided battles of the ongoing low-wage-worker revolt
Reporter: Greg Jaffe | Photo Editor: Karly Domb Sadof
Shellie Parsons, 37, sweeps the parking lot for trash and cigarette butts at the Dollar General that she works at in Barkhamsted, CT. While the parking lot is supposed to be swept the night before by a coworker, Shellie often has to do it during her opening shift.
Shellie helps her daughter, Bella, put her shoes on after finding socks for her to wear before leaving her apartment in Winsted, Connecticut on November 16, 2021. Bella’s hair is still wet from taking a quick shower. On Tuesdays, Shellie spends three hours with Bella, and is court ordered to drop Bella off with her father no later than 8PM at a Big Y in Torrington, Connecticut. After police charged Parsons’s ex with “threatening” behavior and “breach of peace,” the courts granted Parsons a restraining order and mandated that she and her former partner exchange Bella in a well-lit, public spot, which for now is a Big Y.
Shellie holds photo strip of her and Bella from the day they were reunited after months of being apart. Shellie says that the photos symbolize the beginning of the fight for her daughter. She keeps them on her dash as a reminder of what is important.
Shellie collects shopping carts at the Dollar General she works at during an opening shift.
Emma Velez, and Bella Marinelli, 8, eat their McDonalds dinner while Shellie prepares to drop her daughter Bella off with her ex-husband at the Big Y in Torrington, CT. Amidst a custody battle, Shellie only sees Bella three times a week, for a few hours.
Shellie takes a call from the NLRB.
Shellie vacuums the bedroom of a client’s home. On her days off from Dollar General, Shellie cleans houses to afford the lawyer assisting her in her custody battle.
Selenia and Emma Velez play with their swimming flippers while Bella picks out other swimming toys, and Shellie holds an inflatable ball at the Winsted YMCA. Shellie was able to afford $15 for the girls to swim in one lane for an hour.
Bella floats on her back while swimming at the Winsted YMCA.
Shellie walks with Bella towards the Big Y in Torrington, CT, where Shellie must hand off Bella to her father.
Shellie closes her eyes while crying as she drives to her apartment after dropping off Bella. “Nobody understands what I gotta go through,” she says, and adds that she cries nearly every time she leaves her daughter with her ex. Shellie is quiet for the drive home, and listens to country music.