Employees at Trader Joe’s in Minneapolis voted to join the union on Friday, adding a second union member to more than 500 locations in the supermarket chain.
Employees at Trader Joe’s in Massachusetts voted to unionize last month, part of a recent trend of union victories involving service workers at companies such as Starbucks, Apple and Amazon.
Minneapolis voted 55 to 5, according to the National Labor Relations Commission, which conducted the election.
Minneapolis workers voted to join Trader Joe’s United, the same independent union that represents workers in Hadley, Massachusetts. submitted for union electionsbut the Labor Relations Commission has not yet approved the ballot and has not set an election date.
In a statement referring to the results of the Minneapolis election, Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Nakia Rohde said: “While we are concerned about how this new rigid legal relationship will affect the culture of Trader Joe’s, we are ready to begin discussions immediately with their collective bargaining representatives to negotiate a contract. increase.”
Sarah Beth Reiser, a Minneapolis Trader Joe’s employee who participated in the organizing campaign, said her co-workers were in Massachusetts over dissatisfaction with wages and benefits, an issue that helped fuel the union campaign. Employees have complained that the company has cut back on its benefits package in recent years. Improved some benefits Recently.
But Ricer and her colleagues say the store, which is located in an area where some residents struggle with drug addiction and mental health issues, has procedures and systems in place to deal with certain emergencies. She cited a person last fall who walked into a store with what appeared to be a gunshot wound and collapsed into her arms.
Ryther said police arrived shortly after. While she took time off to deal with her trauma, days passed before she was told she could receive workers’ compensation, she said.
Trader Joe’s didn’t respond to a request for comment on Reiser’s description of the worker complaint and store conditions, but in her statement, Lord said the company would “if the situation changes. promised to respond quickly,” he said. Doing the right thing to support the crew. ”
In March 2020, the company’s CEO, Dan Bain, sent a letter to employees, citing the “current barrage of union activity directed at Trader Joe’s,” union advocates said. “We clearly believe now is the time they can do it,” he insisted. ”
