Trader Joe’s Workers in New York City File for Union Election with Trader Joe’s United

Employees at a Trader Joe’s in New York City have filed for a union election. If they win, they will be the first unionized Trader Joe’s in the state.

Crew members at the Essex location seek to join Trader Joe’s United, the independent union of Trader Joe’s workers. If the workers vote to unionize, they would be the fourth Trader Joe’s in the country to do so.

The New York City store’s union drive announcement occurred on the same day workers at an Oakland, California Trader Joe’s declared their intent to unionize with Trader Joe’s United. Crew members at both stores unveiled their campaigns with a March on the Boss at each location.

These bicoastal and simultaneous announcements are a historic first for the new union, which formed last year in July 2022 after the Hadley, Massachusetts store became the first Trader Joe’s in the country to unionize. The Hadley win was quickly followed by a landslide victory at the company’s Minneapolis, Minnesota location where the union prevailed 55-5 two weeks later.

In January 2023, crew at the Louisville, Kentucky store voted 48-36 to join Trader Joe’s United. Trader Joe’s filed objections to the election results with the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB convened a hearing on these objections earlier this week.

While Trader Joe’s has a long standing reputation as a progressive company, the company has rolled out well-documented anti-union tactics at all locations that have filed for an election. 

Trader Joe’s workers in New York City in particular have faced opposition to union efforts. In October 2022 the workers at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn store lost their bid to join Trader Joe’s United. The company abruptly closed its Union Square wine shop just days before workers were to file for an election with United Food and Commercial Workers. Trader Joe’s has yet to respond to the New York City announcement.

“I am organizing because it should not be a radical idea for workers to have a voice in the workplace. Crew members should be able to have more agency at Trader Joe’s and have a role in deciding standards of their own life necessities like pay, safety, and health and retirement benefits. I am organizing so that we feel like the collective the Trader Joe’s once intended to be,” said Jordan Pollack, a crew member at the Essex Crossing store in New York City.