Trader Joe’s in Chicago files to unionize

Another Trader Joe’s grocery store is considering unionizing, and if it’s successful, the Chicago location will become the grocer’s fifth union shop in the country, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. 

The Tribune reports that the Trader Joe’s filed for a union election on Monday, and needs 140 “yes” votes in order to establish the union. 

The workers there are not affiliated with an established union and instead are organizing independently under the name Trader Joe’s United. 

One worker at the store told the Tribune that she makes $22.50 an hour and receives 75-cent raises twice a year. 

Trader Joe’s spokesperson Nakia Rohde told the Tribune that its workers receive annual raises of approximately 7%. 

The first Trader Joe’s location to establish a union was in Hadley, Mass., in 2022. The union has since accused the grocer of mistreating employees.

A separate group of employees at that location has pushed to decertify the union and says it has 30% staff support to call a vote on the issue. 

The group, however, said it is waiting until it achieves the 50% support needed to vote to dissolve the union. 

Meanwhile, the grocer has been accused of union busting at a Trader Joe’s in Oakland, Calif. In early April, the union members at the store reported to the National Labor Relations Board that a manager threatened to transfer an employee if workers at the store unionized. 

The manager at the Oakland store also allegedly refused to allow employees to discuss unionization while at work and forced them into to meeting where the manager discouraged unionization. 

The grocer also was accused of union busting in January after closing a wine shop at a location in New York City’s Union Square after it tried to establish a union.

Trader Joe’s operates roughly 550 stores. Six Trader Joe’s stores are located in Chicago.