Trader Joe’s employees voted to unionize a Massachusetts store, extending a wave of landmark labor victories at prominent US retailers.
Employees at the supermarket chain’s store in the town of Hadley voted 45-to-31 to join Trader Joe’s United — a new independent group. The US National Labor Relations Board oversaw the election and counted ballots Thursday afternoon.
Workers began organizing in January, seeking improvements in pay and benefits and a say on safety issues. “I think the company is going in a direction away from its stated values, and we as a union would like to bring those things back in line,” union spokesperson and 18-year Trader Joe’s employee Maeg Yosef said Wednesday. After they petitioned in June for an election, the company deployed anti-union tactics including mandatory meetings, Yosef said.
In response to the vote, Trader Joe’s said in an email that it offers pay, benefits and conditions that are “among the best in the grocery business.” The company is prepared to “immediately” start discussions with union representatives, it said.
“We are willing to use any current union contract for a multistate grocery company with stores in the area, selected by the union representatives, as a template to negotiate a new structure for the employees in this store,” Trader Joe’s said.
The Trader Joe’s victory follows a string of landmark union wins at prominent US retail firms. In recent months, REI workers at a New York store, Apple Inc. store employees in Maryland, Verizon Communications Inc. retail workers in Washington state, and Starbucks Corp. baristas at over 200 cafes across the country have all voted to unionize. Additionally, hundreds of tech workers at the New York Times Co. and thousands at an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse have formed unions.
“The way in which it has snowballed through such traditionally difficult sectors to unionize is both astonishing and inspiring,” said Yale University history professor Jennifer Klein. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t still a huge fight ahead.”
Many retail workers have said they were agitated by pandemic working conditions while being emboldened by tight labor markets and inspired by employees’ organization efforts elsewhere.
The Starbucks and Amazon victories have “shown us that it’s possible, and it’s just a really exciting time to be organizing,” Yosef said. “Anything that we do to improve things in Hadley will have a ripple effect across the company, and also possibly a ripple effect in organizing too.”
Employees in Minneapolis are slated to vote next month on joining Trader Joe’s United. Also, a different union, the United Food & Commercial Workers, this week petitioned for a vote at one of the chain’s stores in Colorado.
