Trader Joe’s workers vote to unionize

Trader Joe’s workers at a store in Hadley, Mass., voted 45-31 to unionize, becoming the first at that company to do so, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

The union’s victory in western Massachusetts follows a wave of successful union drives this year at high-profile employers that have long evaded unionization, such as Starbucks, Amazon, Apple and REI. Union victories can produce a ripple effect across employers and industries, emboldening new workers to organize. Petitions for union elections this year are on track to hit their highest level in a decade, as a hot labor market has afforded workers more leverage over their employers.

Trader Joe’s workers at the Hadley store cited the degradation of their benefits, health and safety concerns related to the pandemic, and pay as the impetus for forming an independent union at their store. Some workers at the store make

$16 an hour. The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $14.25 an hour.

“There’s been a really clear trend over the past 10 years of Trader Joe’s chipping away at our benefits,” said Maeg Yosef, the leader of the union drive who has worked at the Hadley store for 18 years. “We all see that, and it’s really obvious to us that the way to protect each other is through a union contract.”

A request for comment from Trader Joe’s on the union vote and allegations of degrading benefits, health and safety was not immediately returned.

Since workers in Hadley announced their union drive in May, Trader Joe’s workers in Minneapolis and Boulder, Colo., have filed for union elections. The store in Minneapolis will hold its election the second week in August. There are more than 530 Trader Joe’s locations in the country.