Alex Pham works at the flagship Trader Joe’s location in Pasadena, California. It’s the store where new policies and technologies are rolled out. It’s also near corporate headquarters in Monrovia, making it the local grocery store of many corporate employees.

If you think such heightened visibility means the location runs smoothly, you’d be wrong. During the pandemic, management mistreatment provoked workers into attempts at collective action. In response to the company’s annual survey of employees, some workers at the store coordinated responses, hoping to multiply their power and effectively convey the extent of the problems. In response, Trader Joe’s management violated their rights.

After days of questioning by management, Pham filed charges against Trader Joe’s with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). That was on May 10. Within a month, Trader Joe’s had signed a settlement and posted a notice in the flagship store that it would not violate workers’ rights. Jacobin’s Alex N. Press spoke to Pham about working at the grocery store during the pandemic, being interrogated by Trader Joe’s management, and what’s needed to force changes at the company.