Retail Watchers

A Trader Joe's in Hadley, Massachusetts has unionized. There are 2 other stores that are attempting to unionize as well. The new union contract will be based on other unionized supermarkets in the area.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/issues- ... form-union

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 12:17 am A Trader Joe's in Hadley, Massachusetts has unionized. There are 2 other stores that are attempting to unionize as well. The new union contract will be based on other unionized supermarkets in the area.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/issues- ... form-union

Pretty useless union vote. It isn't even aligned with UFCW. One of the biggest selling points of grocery being unionized is access to UFCW's programs for benefits. Without that, I fail to see what this union is even bringing to the table.

I also suspect the wages here are already higher than other unionized grocers in the area. So I am sure the company is indeed "eager" to go ahead and follow other unionized grocers for a template.

I have to wonder why they didn't bring in UFCW.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 12:17 am A Trader Joe's in Hadley, Massachusetts has unionized. There are 2 other stores that are attempting to unionize as well. The new union contract will be based on other unionized supermarkets in the area.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/issues- ... form-union

Great first steps!

They may soon affiliate with the larger Union umbrellas if this continues.

Like TJ employees are badly treated?

jamcool wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 9:56 am Like TJ employees are badly treated?

That wasn't really why this store chose to do it. Apparently since 2010, Trader Joe's has significantly reduced pay ins for retirement for longer term employees. That seemed to be the largest rub.

Some stores were still unhappy with how things adjusted as the pandemic waned on for employee (and arguably customer) safety and also felt a collective unit may better negotiate these concerns with the company.

jamcool wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 9:56 am Like TJ employees are badly treated?

You have no idea....................LOL

Lots of clicks and favoritisim.....................

veteran+ wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 10:21 am

jamcool wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 9:56 am Like TJ employees are badly treated?

You have no idea....................LOL

Lots of clicks and favoritisim.....................

Unions do not do anything to resolve clicks and favoritism... that is not their place to get involved in social issues between employees.

This union sounds rather useless- they bring nothing to the table. Better working conditions? Okay, what are the issues? They better align with UFCW, quick.

How many salaried positions does Trader Joe's have in its stores anyway? They are known to have one of the best work-life balances for management, or were in the past... maybe something changed recently... It will be interesting to see how many positions in the store end up being unionized vs. non-unionized.

storewanderer wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 10:27 pm

veteran+ wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 10:21 am

jamcool wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 9:56 am Like TJ employees are badly treated?

You have no idea....................LOL

Lots of clicks and favoritisim.....................

Unions do not do anything to resolve clicks and favoritism... that is not their place to get involved in social issues between employees.

This union sounds rather useless- they bring nothing to the table. Better working conditions? Okay, what are the issues? They better align with UFCW, quick.

How many salaried positions does Trader Joe's have in its stores anyway? They are known to have one of the best work-life balances for management, or were in the past... maybe something changed recently... It will be interesting to see how many positions in the store end up being unionized vs. non-unionized.

I never said Unions resolve clicks and favoritism in a SOCIAL setting. The clicks and favoritism I mentioned is between management towards underlings, and THAT needs to be addressed.

The bottom line is that an employee with no voice and on their own has no influence when "things" go wrong. HR/ER does nothing for them. Most labor laws and most Labor Commissioners are useless. WHOM should be an advocate for the employee? Unions, however imperfect, are better than nothing.

My inside information about Trader Joes starts from 2006 to the present in the Coachella Valley. Also shared accounts of ongoings in other areas from the employees. Sometimes the public proclamations of "best place to work" like Publix and Trader Joes are NOT accurate by any means.

The best next step for these baby Unions are indeed to affiliate with the Big Guys.

veteran+ wrote: ↑August 3rd, 2022, 7:18 am

I never said Unions resolve clicks and favoritism in a SOCIAL setting. The clicks and favoritism I mentioned is between management towards underlings, and THAT needs to be addressed.

The bottom line is that an employee with no voice and on their own has no influence when "things" go wrong. HR/ER does nothing for them. Most labor laws and most Labor Commissioners are useless. WHOM should be an advocate for the employee? Unions, however imperfect, are better than nothing.

My inside information about Trader Joes starts from 2006 to the present in the Coachella Valley. Also shared accounts of ongoings in other areas from the employees. Sometimes the public proclamations of "best place to work" like Publix and Trader Joes are NOT accurate by any means.

The best next step for these baby Unions are indeed to affiliate with the Big Guys.

There are clicks and favoritism in union environments too. Poor management is poor management and I don't think the union serves as any check on clicks and favoritism at all. If anything the union makes those things even worse, as it creates more adversarial positions between employee and employer.

Look at the recruiting efforts to attract young employees. It is all about "fun" and work being "social" and "work with friends" and other ... I will just stop. But the point I am trying to make, and this applies not only to entry level retail/food service but even to entry level professional jobs at this point, is there is a desperate thing going on by employers to make employees think the workplace is "fun" as a way to attract/engage employees.

I also agree with you fully that the decline of unions is directly correlated to the decline of the middle class. Problem is the decline of unions was very much in part due to the UNIONS making poor decisions. It certainly wasn't the fault of the employees and it wasn't really some government thing either (though some government regulations that would have discouraged moving jobs overseas or moving production overseas sure would have gone a long ways to keep some of those union jobs in the US...). The UNIONS did themselves in, and sold out their members, as they attempted to work with equally inflexible management as a result of poor negotiating tactics and a lack of flexibility. The difference is management had an option- if union negotiations fail- no big deal- we close the facility and move the jobs overseas- and we save money in the process. But for the union the loss of those jobs was a bigger deal as the union loses the membership.

The best voice the employee has in the case of a hostile work environment is a lawyer and a discrimination and/or harassment case against the employer. That seems to get results, quickly. And many lawyers are out there to take those cases and not require any up front payment knowing the cases are often a slam dunk to, at the least, a decent settlement. Especially in certain states.

The people I interact with at Trader Joe's are efficient and in good spirits. They do not seem stressed out and seem genuinely happy in their jobs. I am not sure what issues with the wage/benefit package they expect the union to help them with.

Union busting history by corporations and conservative government administrations would disagree with you.

No one would argue about historical Union malfeseance. But, the decades long campaign to destroy Labor Unions has been well documented.

Not everyone can afford a lawyer (not many do pro bono or "zero down"). Many cases are also too small (but still destructive) to attract a lawyer. For most, this is not the best way forward.

A more powerful third voice is a STRONG State Labor Commissioner and/or Labor Union. Unions DO look at favoritism issues and interactive issues between management and clerks.

I am glad you area of Trader Joes has good spirits. Every store and every region can unique. My point was that the often promulgated "best place to work" is often not accurate and more often manipulated for P.R. purposes.