ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WIS) - Staff at a South Carolina Waffle House location have started a strike, demanding better pay and working conditions.

The Union of Southern Service Workers said union workers at a location on Five Chop Road in Orangeburg began a four-day strike on Sunday.

The union claims Waffle House automatically deducts at least $3 per shift from workers’ paychecks for a “meal credit” - regardless of whether they have a break or eat a meal. In a statement, the union says the Orangeburg workers are among “other Waffle House cooks and servers who say this unfair deduction, taken even when they are denied the right to take food home, takes away the money workers rely on to get by.”

According to the union, workers also reported feeling threatened, harassed and ignored by management when they came to them with concerns about safety at work. One worker described a particular incident where they claimed a customer touched them to the point where another employee had to get involved, but nothing happened when they reportedly went to management.

The USSW says the workers are asking for more fair scheduling, a safer work environment with 24/7 unarmed security, a $25 per hour minimum wage and “a seat at the table for workers to fight for better conditions.”

WIS has reached out to Waffle House for comment.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.

WATCH US LIVE

Watch WIS live during newscasts and Soda City Living in the livestream player below. When WIS is not on the air, the player will feature Gray Media’s Local News Live.

Copyright 2025 WIS. All rights reserved.