Some employees at 1st unionized Trader Joe’s now want to reverse course

Workers at a Trader Joe’s in Hadley, Mass. were the first within the company to form a union in 2022, and now there’s a group that wants to break it up.

The attempt to decertify has been going on for months but has intensified in the wake of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) hearing where the union, Trader Joe’s United, is accusing the Hadley store of mistreating employees following the formation of the union. 

The group that wants to decertify, which consists of both current and former employees, claims it has 30% of staff support to support the dissolution of the union. 

That percentage is enough to force a vote, but so far, the group says it’s choosing to wait until it reaches the 50% approval needed to dissolve the union and stop the NLRB hearings.

Maeg Yosef is the communications director for Trader Joe’s United and additionally works at the Hadley location. Yosef said nothing has been filed to decertify the union, and “if they were to file any vote would likely be blocked or delayed by the National Labor Relations Board because of the number and nature of the outstanding unfair labor practices filed against Trader Joe’s,” he said in a statement to Supermarket News.

The anti-union effort says Trader Joe’s has created a positive work environment and is additionally questioning why only those in favor of the union have been called to testify during the NLRB hearing.

Yosef, however, said no Hadley worker has been able to observe the hearing because they are all considered potential witnesses. 

“The hearing pertains to very specific charges so I can only assume witnesses are being called if they have relevant testimony as determined by the Board,” he said. 

Trader Joe’s United claims a worker was fired at the Hadley location for being involved in unionizing activities. The complaint to the NLRB calls for the worker to be reinstated.

Out of a total of 550 Trader Joe’s stores, only two other locations have union workers, including in  Minneapolis, Minn., and Oakland, Calif.

“Since before our union election we’ve had, and we continue to have, a majority of support for our union at the Hadley store,” Hadley’s Trader Joe’s United said in an emailed statement to SN. “Collectively, we voted to form a union so that we could have a real say in our workplace, the protections that a union provides, and a first contract that will give us the pay, benefits, and working conditions that we deserve, including a living wage, reliable retirement contributions, and a safe working environment.”