Trader Joe’s Illegally Closed New York Store To Stop Union Organizing, Feds Say
HuffPost
Workers had told HuffPost they believed the closure was meant to chill their union campaign.
Federal labor officials allege in a new complaint that Trader Joe’s shut down its wine shop in New York City in 2022 in order to blunt a union organizing effort.
The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board argues that the grocer’s decision to close the store amounts to unlawful retaliation, and that Trader Joe’s should have to reopen the store and make the affected employees “whole” for any wages they lost.
The Jan. 12 complaint also accuses Trader Joe’s of illegally “interrogating” pro-union workers and threatening to take away benefits if they unionized, according to an NLRB spokesperson.
The group that was organizing at the store, the United Food and Commercial Workers union, said in a statement Thursday that the complaint brings workers “closer to getting the justice they deserve.”
“Trader Joe’s shamelessly and illegally engaged in union busting to scare Trader Joe’s workers across the region and stop these workers from having a voice on the job,” the union said.
