Trader Joe’s Rockridge Store in Oakland, CA Votes to Unionize

Despite unlawful union-busting by the company, “The Rock” crew came out victorious last night. 

In a 73-53 vote, workers at Trader Joe’s #231 in Oakland, CA voted to join Trader Joe’s United, the independent union led by Trader Joe’s workers founded last year. The location is the chain’s first to unionize in California, where Trader Joe’s was founded, and the fourth in the country to do so.

“This union campaign has changed me and my store for the better. It has not only been the most fun I’ve had at my workplace in years, it has also been the most meaningful and connective for many of us,” said Dominique Bernardo, an employee organizer at the Oakland, CA Rockridge location. “I am incredibly proud to be part of this courageous crew. Because of them we have a seat at the bargaining table and our voices can finally be heard by Trader Joe’s Corporate.”

The Oakland store will join the three other Trader Joe’s locations that make up Trader Joe’s United at the bargaining table.

Trader Joe’s United is a new organization unaffiliated with an established labor union. In July 2022 workers at the Hadley, MA location won their union election 45-31, becoming the company’s first unionized store. The Minneapolis store joined the TJU in a landslide 55-5 victory just two weeks later. In January of 2023, the Louisville, KY store became the third Trader Joe’s location in the country to vote to join TJU, though the company filed objections to the election results with the NLRB. A final ruling on those objections is pending.