Trader Joe’s Workers in Louisville Just Voted for a Union. We Spoke to One of the Workers.
A third Trader Joe’s store location has just voted to unionize, this one in the notoriously anti-union South. “If a Trader Joe’s in Louisville, Kentucky, can do this,” says an organizer, “any Trader Joe's across the country can do this.”
Trader Joe’s employees at one of the grocery chain’s stores in Louisville, Kentucky, just won a vote to form a union. (Trader Joe’s United / Twitter)
Trader Joe’s workers in Louisville, Kentucky, are poised to become the grocery chain’s third store to unionize. Nearly 60 percent of the workers in Louisville voted to affiliate with the new independent union Trader Joe’s United, which also represents Trader Joe’s workers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Hadley, Massachusetts.
The company is contesting several yes votes cast in the Louisville election, but organizers predict that the National Labor Relations Board will decide in workers’ favor. In its objection to the election results, the company cited “an atmosphere of fear and coercion” created by union organizers. Organizers responded that the allegation was ironic, considering that “we have several unfair labor practice charges on file against Trader Joe’s for coercion, intimidation, threats and surveillance in the weeks leading up to our election.”
“Trader Joe’s will try to elongate this process for as long as they possibly can,” said Connor Hovey, a Louisville Trader Joe’s employee, in conversation with Jacobin. “But we have such a dedicated group of people at the helm that we’re going to just stick to our guns.” Hovey sat down with Jacobin contributor Peter Lucas to discuss their pending victory, organizing in the South, and the current surge in unionization campaigns across the country.
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