NLRB judge dismisses petition to decertify first Trader Joe’s union

Trader Joe’s United still represents workers at a Trader Joe’s in Hadley, Mass., after a petition to decertify the union was dismissed by Region 1 of the National Labor Relations Board earlier this month. 

Workers at the Hadley location formed Trader Joe’s United, an independent and worker-led union, on July 28, 2022, and later employees from stores in Minneapolis, Oakland, and Louisville, voted to join the union for employees of the specialty grocer. 

NLRB Regional Director Laura Sacks said the reason for the dismissal was because of a pending unfair labor practice complaint filed against Trader Joe’s.

The charges in the complaint were addressed in an NLRB hearing that concluded in March. A decision from the administrative law judge assigned to the case is still pending.

In her decision, Sacks wrote the unremedied unfair labor practices complaint against Trader Joe’s “tainted” the petition, stating it had “meaningful impact in fostering employee disaffection from the union.”

The decertification petition was filed by an employee at the Hadley location on July 31.

The unfair labor practice charges in the complaint include allegations that Trader Joe’s interrogated workers about their union activities, threatened employees that they might not receive retirement benefits or raises if they formed a union, and provided false and misleading information about the union to employees nationwide via the Monrovia, Calif.-based grocery retailer’s bargaining updates.

Additionally, the complaint alleges that Trader Joe’s unlawfully terminated a union supporter and retaliated against unionized stores by implementing a different retirement benefit at those stores than what the company provided to other workers.

“Since well before our union vote in Hadley, Trader Joe’s has engaged in union-busting in line with what you’d expect from Starbucks or Amazon,” said Jamie Edwards, president of Trader Joe’s United. “The company’s unlawful conduct and blatant disregard for workers’ rights would make it impossible to hold a fair vote. The decision to dismiss the decertification petition was possible because we knew our rights, stood our ground, and fought to hold Trader Joe’s accountable.”

Trader Joe’s has not responded to a request for comment regarding the NLRB dismissal.

The grocery retailer also filed a charge with the NLRB against the workers’ union in February 2023, alleging bad-faith bargaining practices among members of Trader Joe’s United.

Trader Joe’s dissatisfaction with the union extends beyond the grocery storefront.

Last year, the grocery retailer filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Trader Joe’s United, alleging that branded tote bags, mugs, buttons, and other merchandise it’s selling to raise money are likely to confuse shoppers because they resemble the company’s actual merchandise.