Trader Joe's workers file to form chain's first union

Learning that Trader Joe's scaled back retirement benefits for its U.S. workforce of 50,000 was the last straw for a group of employees at one of the chain's stores in Hadley, Massachusetts. Those workers have now filed for a union election that, if successful, would make the store the first of the national chain's more than 500 locations to organize, joining workers at Starbucks, Amazon and other large retailers to unionize. 

In past years, Trader Joe's contributed about 15% of what employees made the prior year to their individual retirement accounts, or IRAs. But it first dialed the perk back to 10% and then made it at the company's discretion, something many workers didn't realize until January, said Maeg Yosef, who has worked for the company 18 years and is helping lead the unionization effort. 

"A lot of people only got half of what they were anticipating," Yosef, 41, told CBS MoneyWatch. "After losing the retirement contribution, we realized we had the skills and willingness to put together a serious effort."

More than 30% of the 88 non-management employees at the Trader Joe's in Hadley have signed cards seeking union representation, a National Labor Relations Board requirement to have an election, Yosef said. After organizers informed the company of their intentions to unionize, they received assurances that Trader Joe's would not contest or delay the process, she added.

Trader Joe's did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the grocery chain told the New York Times that "we welcome a fair vote and are prepared to hold a vote if more than 30 percent of the crew wants one," adding that "We are not interested in delaying the process in any way."

The NLRB has received the petition and will continue the process once it has all the necessary documents, the agency confirmed in an email.

"You have to prepare yourself to lose your job"

All of the organizers in Hadley have between 10 and 20 years on the job and know the risks of trying to form a union, Yosef said. "If you decide you want to unionize a $16 billion company, you have to prepare yourself to lose your job."

Management at the store last week told workers to take off their union pins or go home, she said. "For the most part we just took them off. We're also severely understaffed, so we don't want to leave our coworkers in the lurch," Yosef added. "Now we can leave them on, but it's implied that it would affect performance reviews later on."

Wages and safety are other areas where workers are seeking a voice, especially given the repetitive strain and other injuries that often come with the job, said Yosef, who said she has had to go on workers' compensation three times during her nearly two decades at Trader Joe's. 

"Our pay felt really competitive early in my tenure — now it's not keeping up with inflation and the cost of living," said Yosef, whose hourly earnings are capped at $25.75.

Yosef expressed confidence that the effort to form an independent union would prevail and eventually spread to other Trader Joe's locations. 

"We definitely have seen what Starbucks has done — it's been incredibly inspiring — and Amazon as well."