Trader Joe’s United Local Shop 1 in Hadley, MA Elects Leadership, TJU Releases Bargaining Statement

On Thursday, August 11th, the newly formed Trader Joe’s United Local Shop 1, representing employees at the Trader Joe’s Hadley store, held its first union meeting. During the meeting, members elected local union leadership. Jamie Edwards (they/them) was elected President; Mitchell Redfield (she/they) was elected Secretary, and Gabrielle Lanza (they/them) was elected Treasurer.

Trader Joe’s United is a newly established, independent union. Employees at the Hadley store voted 45-31 to join the union on July 28th, and last week employees at the Minneapolis Trader Joe’s voted overwhelmingly to join TJU in a 55-5 vote.

Next steps for the union in Hadley are to prepare for contract negotiations. “We want everyone’s voice to be heard during the bargaining process,” said President Jamie Edwards. “This is an incredible opportunity for the Hadley crew and merchants to come together to create a contract that works for all of us.”

After the union win in Hadley, Trader Joe’s corporate released the following statement in regards to the bargaining process:

“Trader Joe’s is willing to use any current union contract for a multi-state grocery company with stores in the Hadley area as a template to negotiate a new structure for employment; including pay, retirement, healthcare, and working conditions.”

The following is Trader Joe’s United’s response, addressed to Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane:

“Dear Dan,

Now that the results of our historic union vote have been certified, we are excited to bargain for a strong contract.

Throughout the unionization process we have heard one consistent refrain from Crew, Mates, and Captains: we have to make sure Trader Joe's stays Trader Joe's. Even the voices coming in from Corporate repeated this refrain, so we were surprised to hear your request that we model our contract after an existing big-box grocery store. 

While we appreciate your willingness to seek out a template contract, and indeed are encouraged by this show of faith, we intend to craft an agreement with you that speaks to the unique nature of work at Trader Joe's. Our stores and our brand offer experiences our customers seek out because they cannot be found elsewhere. We intend to craft a contract that speaks to that special nature. Therefore we must respectfully decline your offer to use an existing grocery chain contract as a template…

…we are excited to begin to build a contract that strengthens the Trader Joe's brand, enshrines the benefits provided to our fellow Crew, Mates, and Captain, and codifies once and for all that Trader Joe's is an inverted pyramid.”