Trader Joe’s will mandate that part-time employees work a minimum of three days a week beginning in January, according to workers, reports The Guardian.
One northeastern U.S. worker claimed management said changes were to be made as a result of hiring issues, wanting workers to perform better, and as a response to complaints about part-time and full-time workers receiving the same pay.
“It’s a concerning change because this policy will unfairly discriminate against parents, students, older crew for whom Trader Joe’s is a ‘retirement job’, crew with disabilities, veteran crew who have cut back their hours due to work injuries, and other crew members that need to work one or two days a week,” said Maeg Yosef, a Trader Joe’s worker and union organizer in Hadley, Massachusetts. “Flexibility is one of the draws of the job, and a lot of folks have come to depend on this part-time option.”
The worker mused that the grocer’s effort piggybacks on recent calls to unionize stores in the area. The retailer has been opposing the unionization efforts of Trader Joe’s United: the company shut down a Trader Joe’s wine store in Manhattan shortly after a union campaign was launched there, according to the report.
The union organization group said two existing unionized stores in Massachusetts and Minnesota cannot have the changes implemented until the company bargains with the union. Full Story
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Image: Trader Joe's