Hadley Trader Joes used “coercive threats” against union members, per NLRB
By Jordan Pagkalinawan
A Trader Joe’s in Hadley, Mass., violated labor laws by telling workers to take off union pins and denying them the same retirement benefits as non-union employees, according to an administrative law judge from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The ruling, which cited 18 allegations from May 2022 to January 2023, was made Nov. 8 by Judge Charles Muhl, who ordered the chain to cease the unlawful practices, compensate affected employees, and remove negative reprisals involving union-protected activity. The decision also found the dismissal of one employee as “lawful,” a finding that union members were displeased with.
Trader Joe’s released a statement responding to the decision, writing, “We are pleased with the NLRB Administrative Law Judge’s determinations in favor of Trader Joe’s, including that we do not terminate Crew Members’ employment because they support unionization. As we have always said, Trader Joe’s supports our Crew Members’ rights to choose whether or not they want to be represented by a union.”
The statement added that Trader Joe’s plans to appeal part of the decision, though did not specify further.
Labor law attorney Seth Goldstein, part of the firm that represents Trader Joe’s United, noted that this decision is one of 22 cases against the company at the Hadley location.
“The problem is the so-called progressive company pretends that it is union-friendly and things that they care about — but they’re not,” Goldstein told Boston.com. “They just want to bust the union.”
Goldstein noted there are around 100 union members at the Hadley location, which voted to unionize in August of 2022—the first Trader Joe’s in the country to do so. The store’s union status has divided the location’s employees in the past, with some attempting to decertify the union in August.
“I want to credit the Trader Joe’s United workers who fought back on that issue and organized around Trader Joe’s unwillingness to overrule a 90-year-old law,” Goldstein said. “I think Trader Joe’s workers have shown a path in which workers can successfully organize, push back, and be successful about it.”