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UPDATE: Austin Dollar Tree employees tell Austonia of heat, mistreatment in wake of viral TikTok

The Montopolis Dollar tree, run by one employee, closed earlier this month only after an AC specialist said it was unsafe. (Claire Partain)
It's been a few weeks since a viral TikTok revealed poor working conditions at the Montopolis Dollar Tree in southeast Austin, and employee Maggie Lopez is still feeling its effects.
Lopez was filmed working alone at the location May 1 in a since-deleted video that saw 2.9 million views and over 450,000 likes.
In the video, stacked boxes littered the floor, shelves were left unstocked and a leaky, broken air conditioning unit welcomed customers into the understaffed storefront.
@trishmartinez32#x_bazan06#fyp#fypシ#tiktok#friends#like#comment#4upage#4u#share#viralvideo#trending#wow#4upageシ♬ original sound - Patricia Martinez
Lopez, who now works at the dollar store's Springdale location, says she was left with the aftermath of a 90-hour workweek, lost wages and a mystery illness after the store closed a few days later.
"Nobody ever told me... that there was no air conditioning. They didn't tell me there was danger of getting robbed," Lopez told Austonia. "Nobody said anything... they didn't care."
The location didn't shut its doors because of the TikTok exposure: instead, an AC unit specialist doing routine maintenance found employees working in extreme heat and said it was too hot for employees to continue working.
"To operate a business, you have to have your temperature within a certain parameter," Ikaika, the specialist who didn't disclose his full name to protect his job, told Austonia. "As soon as you walk in, you start sweating... it's not good at all."
Lopez said working in 90+ degree heat became the norm in her two months at the location as air conditioning units remained broken for months before the closure. She added some employees, including her former manager Jonathan Martinez and several customers, passed out in the store due to the heat. But she said company leadership remained unresponsive.
Lopez said she sent her district manager, Veronica Oyervides, screenshots of 90+ degree temperatures inside the store. (Maggie Lopez)
Four days after the air conditioning repairman told employees they should no longer keep working at the store, Lopez said her district manager, Veronica Oyervides, was asking her to come back in to prep the location for reopening. Lopez worked May 8 in the shuttered store prepping it for a reopening, which has yet to happen. Oyervides has declined to comment.
Ever since she started working in the deteriorating Dollar Tree, Lopez said she often wakes up with nosebleeds. She said she's constantly thirsty, her hands shake, and she's experiencing headaches and mood swings—symptoms she said she shares with many of her coworkers.
Former assistant manager Linnea Bradley told Austonia she has been hospitalized with symptoms linked to heat and stress after working at the store.
"We are sick and corporate does not give a shit," Lopez said. "What kind of damage did these stupid units do to our bodies?"
Lopez hasn't sought care for her symptoms—she says she makes $13.50 an hour—and is awaiting health insurance, which she hopes will activate June 1.
Former employees have more complaints than just the heat: Lopez said that personal safety became a concern in the understaffed storel. Catherine, a former employee who wished to only reveal her first name, said she's witnessed large-scale theft and instances of mismanagement in her months as a stocker at the location.
"They have no security, no cameras... they don't want you to have anything in writing," Catherine told Austonia. "It's just complete chaos."
Catherine said that she and other hourly employees were given zero hours for weeks on end as managers, who work on salary, were left to run the store alone from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. She said some managers became so desperate they were hiring homeless people to help stock shelves in exchange for a drink and a bite to eat.
While Catherine (top, middle) often had zero-hour weekly schedules, Martinez, who was paid on salary, worked back-to-back 90-hour workweeks. (Catherine) (Claire Partain)
"They actually did have people willing to work, they just refused to give them hours," Catherine said. "I'm not understanding whether Dollar Tree wants to go under... are they doing this as a tax break?"
Other Austin Dollar Tree locations have reported similar issues. Martinez, Lopez' former manager, says he was supposed to work 45 hours a week. Instead, he says he was racking up 90+ hour workweeks and sleeping in the store as he shouldered both the Montopolis and William Cannon locations while his newborn baby was in the ICU in March.
Martinez kept extra clothes in this office after working seven-day weeks at two Dollar Tree locations. (Claire Partain)
Martinez said he slept on boxes as he juggled the job and visiting his newborn in the ICU. (Claire Partain)
Martinez said he slept on boxes as he juggled the job and visiting his newborn in the ICU. (Claire Partain)
"As long as the store stays open, there are corporate people getting bonuses," Martinez, who quit last week after receiving a $100 annual bonus, told Austonia. "Six months ago, when corporate people had a shitload of bonuses, that's when they upped the price (of everything in the store from $1 to $1.25)."
In the five months since Dollar Tree hiked its prices to $1.25, it's gained plenty of mostly negative national attention. In February, the Food and Drug Administration shut down an Arkansas distribution plant due to a massive rodent infestation, and several lawsuits have ensued. The company has also come under fire for selling allegedly expired over-the-counter medicine and its worker shortage at locations across the country.
One employee, who still works for Dollar Tree and wished to remain anonymous, said that they've seen or heard that many area locations are near their breaking point.
"I've seen the good to bad, the bad to worse," they said. "And it's always a rinse repeat kind of thing... How many more (stores) will go? And what about the employees?"
Meanwhile, Lopez has set up a GoFundMe for her and her coworkers and is looking to take legal action.
"Every time I would tell (Oyervides) 'I'm just going to close, I can't stand it anymore,' she would say, 'No, no, no,'" Lopez said. "And I'd be so upset because why? They have my paycheck. It's just been mortifying... the most horrible year of my life."
Dollar Tree's regional director did not respond to requests for comment from Austonia.
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South-Central Texas is having its hottest May in over a century.
Heading into the end of the month, the National Weather Service reported that the region is seeing its warmest May in over 125 years. This comes just a few months after the area saw the hottest December on record.
And though storms hit Austin last week, the record-setting temperatures are accompanied by drought conditions.
In May, Austin normally gets 4.7 inches of rain. With two days left this month, Austin has only gotten 2.3 inches, according to Andrew Quigley, a meteorologist with the NWS.
“It's kind of one of those months that we rely on to get precipitation,” Quigley said. “So obviously, it's less than ideal that we were so far below normal this month, because May just generally tends to be wetter, and then we tend to dry out kind of moving into the summer.”
Quigley added that the summer will likely bring precipitation conditions similar to May's.
\u201cWith no additional rain expected before the end of May, it's safe to say it was a dry meteorological spring. Rainfall amounts ranged from less than 2" (<25% of normal) in northern Atascosa County since March 1 to just under 10" in eastern Williamson & far SW Dimmit counties.\u201d— NWS Austin/San Antonio (@NWS Austin/San Antonio) 1653871383
But don’t count on the heat letting up anytime soon. Heading into the summer, Austin is seeing a 50 to 60% chance of having above normal temperatures.
If you like getting outside this time of year, there are some practices to keep in mind to stay safe.
“It's important that you're drinking enough water and that you're taking breaks in between your time outdoors to get inside, cool down and give your body the rest it needs,” Quigley said. “It can sneak up on you quickly, how strenuous the heat can be and the toll it can take.”