Hadley Trader Joe’s Employees Organize to Decertify Union

After the Hadley Trader Joe’s became the first of the grocery chain’s locations to unionize in the summer of 2022, a group of crew members have come together in an attempt to decertify the union and stop ongoing National Labor Relations Boarding (NLRB) hearings, arguing that management had not committed any unfair labor practices.

Rather, anti-union employees said that they believe that Trader Joe’s has created a supportive and family-style working environment. Some also said they had been misled by union organizers ahead of the initial vote in 2022.

For the past year, more than a dozen current and former crew members have come together to work towards decertifying the union, handing out flyers, posting on social media, and talking to local news outlets.

Organizers say they have already collected over 30 percent of staff support, which is enough to force a vote to decertify the union. However, the team has decided to wait until they get to the 50 percent mark, which would dissolve the union in Hadley and halt the NLRB hearings.

As of right now, the only witnesses who have been called to testify during the NLRB hearings are Hadley Trader Joe’s crew members who support the union.

“We don’t feel very involved in the hearing,” said Michael Alcorn, who has worked for Trader Joe’s for nine years. “It seems that they didn't want us in the room to hear what was going on.”

A lack of opportunities to speak at the hearings has frustrated crew members who want to decertify the union.

“My huge frustration is that the union organizers can file any accusations with the National Labor Relations Board,” said Gael Humphrey, who has worked at Trader Joe’s in Hadley and in California. “It’s very frustrating because those are just accusations in a lot of cases. We know that they don’t have any merit.”

Crew members came together to decertify the union because of their beliefs that there was misinformation and false accusations of unfair labor practices.

“A big reason that I was for the union was people losing their insurance when they were out for cancer. And I thought that was really wrong, and then I [came] to find out neither one of those two individuals ever lost their insurance,” said Jared Rodericks, who has been working at Traders Joe’s for 22 years and at the Hadley store for five years.

Although there are a wide range of opinions among employees regarding Trader Joe’s handling of the pandemic, members who want to decertify the union supported Trader Joe’s in their COVID protocols, criticism of which played a major role in the initial unionization effort.

“We felt like Trader Joe’s did the best they could. We felt safe during the pandemic. And we felt really respected by our management,” Alcorn said.

“During the pandemic, they raised our discount on groceries to 20 percent, which is so helpful with the cost of living and inflation,” said Gael, “Trader Joe’s paid over $363 million in Thank You Pay, Compensated Absences, Special Bonuses, and the increased Crew discount. During that time period, only $43 million of that was required by law.”

As crew members mobilized to decertify, tensions grew amongst staff members who did and did not support the union for the Hadley Trader Joe’s.

“The union quickly started to turn [the decertification] against us as if that was bad,” said Humphrey. “I wouldn’t say we were scared, but we certainly were disappointed and didn’t want people to think we were bad. I’m not anti-union. I’m not. I just don’t want it for this store.”

By decertifying the union, these crew members aim to re-create a friendly working environment.

“We don’t want them to leave the store or the company,” Rodericks said of pro-union employees. “We want to get rid of this union and go back to the friendships that we used to have. Be happy to get rid of this Berlin Wall that has been constructed between us.”