HADLEY — Trader Joe’s United, an independent union of Trader Joe’s workers, will start negotiating an initial contract for employees at the Hadley store and a location in Minneapolis Thursday and Friday at Smith College in Northampton.
Employees at the Hadley store voted 45-31 July 28 to join the union. Two weeks later employees at the Minneapolis Trader Joe’s voted 55-5 to join.
“We are ready and excited to sit down at the bargaining table with Trader Joe’s,” said Sarah Beth Ryther, a bargaining committee member who works at the Minneapolis store. “Together with our union siblings in Hadley, we will be working for a contract that both meets the needs of the crew and supports the values, such as integrity, that the company claims to espouse. This is a huge moment for crew members across the country.”
The votes, particularly the push in Hadley, garnered national headlines.
But the bargaining session begins following a union setback.
Last week, workers at a Trader Joe’s store in Brooklyn voted against unionizing. The vote was 94 to 66 against joining Trader Joe’s United. Workers at a Colorado store started the process of forming a union, but withdrew their paperwork ahead of a proposed vote, according to The New York Times.