Workers at Trader Joe’s Locations in New York City and Oakland, CA to Vote on Union Next Week

The National Labor Relations Board has issued union election dates for employees at two Trader Joe’s locations: the Essex Crossing store in New York City, and the Rockridge location in Oakland, CA. Next week, in separate elections both taking place on April 19 and 20, workers at these stores will decide whether to join Trader Joe’s United, the independent labor union that formed last year. The final vote counts will take place after voting concludes in each location on April 20.

Workers at both stores filed their petitions for union elections on March 22, 2023, citing issues such as health and safety, wages, and the loss of benefits such as guaranteed retirement contributions as factors that led them to organize.

“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,” said Jordan Pollack, a crew member at the Essex store.

“By unionizing, we can bring Trader Joe’s back in line with the company’s core value of integrity,” said Dominique Bernardo, a crew member of 18 years who currently works at the Oakland location.

If both union campaigns are successful, the Essex Crossing and Rockridge stores would be the fourth and fifth to vote to unionize with Trader Joe’s United.

In July 2022, the Trader Joe’s in Hadley, MA became the first store in the chain’s history to unionize, with the company’s Minneapolis location joining TJU just two weeks later. In January 2023 the Louisville, KY store also voted to join the new union. However, Trader Joe’s filed objections to that election with the NLRB; a final ruling on those objections is pending.