Trader Joes Threatened Workers Ahead Of Union Vote, Feds Allege

Prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board say Trader Joes illegally interrogated workers and threatened to take away their pay raises when they were trying to form a union last year.

The alleged threats came in the run-up to a January 2023 election at a Louisville, Kentucky, store where workers voted in favor of joining a new union, Trader Joes United. The company has challenged the election results by claiming the union illegally influenced the vote.

But according to the complaint filed Monday, prosecutors say it was Trader Joes that committed unfair labor practices meant to sway workers against unionizing. 

The complaint states that an assistant store manager threatened workers with the loss of their raises as well as a loss of flexibility with taking days off and scheduling work if they voted for the union. It also alleges the company forced workers to participate in one-on-one conversations meant to hurt the unions support. 

The labor board will hold a trial on the allegations if officials cant reach a settlement with Trader Joes. 

A Trader Joes spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Connor Hovey, a worker whom Trader Joes accused of illegally pressuring co-workers to vote for the union, said he was happy to see the complaint issued.

Over the last year, Trader Joes has taken every opportunity to throw me under the bus and to make false claims in federal hearings that I violated federal labor law, Hovey told HuffPost. Today its vindicating to see that the company was just projecting their behavior onto me, and the government recognized that.

This isnt the first time labor board officials have accused Trader Joes of breaking the law in an effort to beat back the organizing campaign. They also alleged that Trader Joes illegally fired a union supporter at a Massachusetts store and withheld retirement benefits from workers who unionized.

Workers at a store in Hadley, Massachusetts, created Trader Joes United in 2022 and became the chains first to form a union that year. They were soon followed by workers at stores in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oakland, California; and Louisville. 

The company claimed union supporters at the Louisville store had intimidated other workers and interfered in a free and fair election, but a regional director for the labor board rejected all of Trader Joes arguments after a hearing. The company has appealed the case to the NLRBs board in Washington for review.

Seth Goldstein, an attorney for the union, previously told HuffPost that Trader Joes was trying to overturn the will of voters just like Donald Trump did after he lost his presidential reelection bid in 2020.

They like democracy until they lose, Goldstein said. When they win, they win. When they lose, they still want to think they win.