Where I live out in rural northwest Michigan, the General Dollar chain of small retail stores is important for lots of people in small villages and in between. Driving to a real grocery store or big box store is often a bit of a hike, so many people rely on this omnipresent chain for daily needs, at a bit of a markup. (Contrary to what their name might imply, goods at Dollar General are not inexpensive.)

But the store in my small village and one that I visited just the other day, often offer nearly empty shelves, and managers have been saying lately that’s often because they can’t find enough workers to stock them.

Well, here’s the rub. Workers make minimum wage, which in Michigan is quite low, and managers only make a couple bucks more than that. You can’t live on those wages, not even out here, not unless there’s a second income in the family.

The chain is committed to placing a retail establishment every certain number of miles, but they haven’t committed to paying employees a living wage. Their business model fundamentally depends on paying wages so low that people can’t live on them.

Of course workers don’t want to cooperate with that scheme. And no, they don’t get an employee discount on ramen noodles.