Why Trader Joe employees are fighting to unionize

Workers at two stores among Trader Joe’s hundreds of locations nationwide are hoping to join a newly formed independent union.

There was a big lie that modern corporations were selling to American workers in the late 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century: it was that for-profit entities could make employees and customers happy enough that no intervention like labor unions or strong federal regulation was needed.

This article was produced by Economy for alla project of the Independent Media Institute.

Modern companies like Apple, Google, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s have perpetrated this lie, obscuring their business practices with a veneer of progressive ideals and referring to staff with euphemistic titles like “partners”, “associates” or “members of crew”. Indeed, many workers employed in this slice of the American corporate world were often relatively satisfied – until now. Along with recent pro-union activity at more than 150 Starbucks coffee shops across the United States, some workers at the Trader Joe’s grocery chain have come to realize that a union may also be in their best interest.

Unlike companies like Starbucks or Amazon where attempts to unionize have a long history, Trader Joe’s workers have always been satisfied. In 2003, when tens of thousands of grocery store workers in Southern California – home of the first Trader Joe’s – went on strike for better working conditions and better pay, Trader Joe’s workers , who were not unionized, took time off from the labor dispute.

Indeed, before the pandemic, Trader Joe’s was considered one of the best retail workplaces in the United States. Employee resource website Glassdoor gives the grocery chain high marks year after year, making Glassdoor’s annual list of Best Workplaces for 2011-2013 and 2017-2022. A Trader Joe employee told Business Insider that the part of his job he enjoys the most is interacting with the customer: “As long as I make sure the customer is having a good time and I put the focus on Trader Joe’s values, I can talk to people about anything I want.” Workers also cited good hourly wages, health insurance benefits and retirement benefits as reasons for liking their employer.

Why then, in 2022, are workers at a Trader Joe’s store in Hadley, Massachusetts voting to join a newly formed independent union called Trader Joe’s United? And why are their colleagues at a Minneapolis store looking to do the same?

According to Sarah Beth Ryther, an employee of the aforementioned Minneapolis Trader Joe’s and organizing member of Trader Joe’s United, the reputation enjoyed by her employer “was once well deserved.” But, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she explains that “there has been an erosion of certain benefits” and “there has been a kind of deterioration in the situation in the workplace which has caused some of us to understand and see that the [company’s] the story no longer corresponds to the truth.

Indeed, the company began cutting worker benefits years ago. In 2013, Trader Joe’s stopped offering health insurance plans to part-time employees. He did so based on the fact that workers could potentially get plans through the Affordable Care Act, cynically taking advantage of a government program to help the uninsured.

With approximately 530 stores in 43 states — more locations than Whole Foods — Trader Joe’s, like many grocery businesses, thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, earning $16.5 billion in revenue in 2020. But instead of sharing some of that wealth with workers, the corporate chain continued to cut benefits.

“Several years ago the benefits were really good,” says Ryther, adding, “There was a 15% guaranteed retirement.” But in recent years, she says coverage has been reduced to 10%. Last January, workers at the company discovered that their pension match had been cut in half again, to 5%. “At this time,” says Ryther, “there is no guaranteed pension contribution.”

Salaries are also a huge problem. “The salary structure is set up so that some people who have been with the company for several years earn less than people who are hired now,” says Ryther.

Ryther also takes issue with the fact that there is no job security in his workplace. “Trader Joe’s is an ‘at will’ business, which means they can let people go for no reason or for small reasons.” Joining a union can provide contracts that prevent workers from being fired without cause – an essential protection for those who are active in organizing.

Unsurprisingly, Trader Joe’s reportedly began engaging in union busting tactics as soon as it was clear that employees were campaigning for better working conditions. Several Hadley store employees who wore Trader Joe’s United pins said they were retaliated against and sent home before the end of their shifts, even though wearing pro-union badges is protected by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). There was a similar retaliation against workers at a store in Vermont, with one worker even being fired. The employees filed a complaint with the NLRB and won.

Ryther, like many young workers across the country who have no direct experience with unions, says it has been a journey for her and her co-workers; they have been working since February to learn “about what unions are, what a union could mean for Trader Joe’s and for our day-to-day working lives.”

When the date for the Hadley store union elections was set for late July, a Trader Joe spokeswoman, Nakia Rohde, emailed workers saying, “We are pleased the dates have been set. Trader Joe’s is a great place to work, and we hope our crew members have the chance to vote to keep things the way they are or be represented by this SEIU-supported group.

Ryther says she had never even heard of SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, a well-established and prominent union that happens to be a favorite target of the right-wing media. This is because Trader Joe’s United is not affiliated with the SEIU or any existing union. The company’s reference to the SEIU was likely an underhanded attempt to undermine the newly formed independent union.

But, like many companies whose progressive facade is crumbling in the eyes of their young workers, Trader Joe’s may well be losing the battle against the unions. A former Florida store worker, Noella Williams, who quit in protest over numerous concerns, issued a litany of complaints last June, adding to the company’s eroded reputation and confirming the views of many disgruntled workers .

For most of his co-workers, “it’s a no-brainer” to unionize, says Ryther, who hopes his colleagues at the Minneapolis store will soon follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in Hadley, Mass., with a union election date.

“We are very, very, excited to be able to vote in this election,” she said.

Authors biography: Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali”, a television and radio show broadcast on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. She is a contributing editor for the Independent Media Institute’s Economy for All project.