Chicago Trader Joe's Employees File to Unionize

On Monday, Trader Joe’s employees at a location in Chicago filed for a union election, reports Chicago Tribune. If a majority of employees vote to unionize, the location would become the first to unionize in Chicago, and the fifth in the country.

Grocery workers said they were seeking higher wages, more paid time off, additional benefits protections, and clarity over policies relating to discipline and promotions, according to the report.

“I shouldn’t have to be living paycheck to paycheck still,” said Taylor Powers, a Trader Joe’s employee who has worked for the company for five years and makes $22.50 an hour. “And that’s the reality for me, as it is for a lot of other people that are working there.”

Company spokesperson Nakia Rohde said that Trader Joe’s respects “our crew members’ right to choose” whether to unionize or not.

The Chicago filing comes as the grocery chain speaks out against worker organizations. The chain said at a National Labor Relations Board hearing earlier this year that the structure of the labor board and its administrative law judges is unconstitutional.

General counsel for Trader Joe’s, Kathryn Cahan, said that the company has not filed or joined a lawsuit challenging the NLRB.

“At a hearing earlier this year we offered an affirmative defense, but that was not an argument,” she said. “It was an opportunity to preserve our legal rights under the law.” Full Story