r/antiwork • u/PlenitudeOpulence MD • Oct 01 '22
Trader Joe’s union-busting has reached a new low. The company shut down an entire store in New York—the only Trader Joe’s Wine Shop in the country—days before its workers were set to unionize. Customers are appalled by the decision, and the workers are speaking out.
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u/Prize_Kiwi_3666 Oct 01 '22
Damn I thought Trader Joe’s was a good place.. fuck em all
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u/catsareweirdroomates Oct 01 '22
Me too. I’m losing options here. Basically just Safeway at this point. The UFCW is in Safeway and Kroger, but the latter has Elaine Chao on their board.
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u/bikesexually Oct 01 '22
I went to my normal shop and asked for who was highest in rank currently working. Told them
'I'm not looking for a response and I know you can't really do anything about this but; I as a customer for over 20 years am leaving due to the union busting happening on the other side of the country. I would like you to pass that up the food chain. I will no longer be shopping here.'
Guy responded with a 'OK, I can do that'
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u/goo_goo_gajoob Oct 01 '22
They most likely didn't pass it up. Always ask for corporates info at the end and let them know directly.
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Oct 01 '22
Cue in the "why don't Americans form unions? Why did the union membership decline" and well look at this for an answer. When companies have near infinite capital they can literally shut down an outlet. It's not the same as shutting down multibillion dollar steel factory.
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Oct 01 '22
Exactly true.
That's why unionization needs to be sector wide.
All retail workers in the state should be able to join a union and the collective labour agreements should cover all retail workers in the state.
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u/PinkMenace88 Oct 01 '22
Not really. A decently large scale unionization drive would force them to the table.
If things continue to go the way they are w/ starbucks their corporate w/ have to sit down and actually negotiate.
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u/hellothereshinycoin Oct 01 '22
it was very confusing to read your post and see w/ meaning both "with" and "will"
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u/Optimal-Scientist233 Works Best Idle Oct 01 '22
Oh no.
Sounds like Traitor Joe might become a slogan.
Most unfortunate.
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u/Jayandnightasmr Oct 01 '22
They'd rather kill their business, than pay a fair wage
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u/AJRimmer1971 BSC; SSC Oct 01 '22
And shank their workers too.
Well, I guess they're happier with 100% of nothing from there... Idiots.
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u/Royal_Blood_5593 Oct 01 '22
"Socialism" is the devils work they say. Now they be crying?
The capitalism is not working, there are a handful filthy ultra rich people, and then millions living as slaves.
Tax the rich, increase minimum wages!
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u/BannedByDiscord Oct 01 '22
First they discontinue their delicious soft pretzel sticks and now this?! Trader Joe is definitely going on my “naughty” list this Christmas!
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u/notastepfordwife Oct 01 '22
I'm not surprised. Walmart shut down a store in Southern California after they unionized.
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u/BAKup2k Oct 01 '22
Hell, Walmart shut down all the in store butchers when a in a couple of stores the butchers unionized.
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u/SeasonalNightmare Oct 02 '22
Jacksonville, Texas had their meat cutters vote to unionize. That's when they got rid of them nationwide and went prepackaged. (Edited to be clearer with details.)
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u/DasBlueEyedDevil Oct 01 '22
Trader Joe's isn't even an American company. Owned by one of the Aldi's.
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u/muxman Oct 01 '22
Customers are appalled, but will shop there in an instant should they reopen non-union.
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u/PatrickStarburst here for the memes Oct 01 '22
Now Trader Joes can't sell wine. In my book, that's a win for the union because the store just lost some profit.
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u/becauseitsnotreal Oct 01 '22
It seems fair that if this location was one of a kind, that it was probably not worth nearly as much as workers think they are. It's either a pilot location or just some weird thing a random board member championed.
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u/SarahRecords Oct 01 '22
There was frequently a line out the door at the wine shop; I stocked up there several times a month because it’s near my office. I was there just a few days before it abruptly closed, nobody knew it was coming.
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u/SleepyMike65 Oct 01 '22
These people are fucking heroes. Anybody who works for somebody else should be a union member.
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u/bubbamike1 Oct 02 '22
This is the problem when you have to organize individual locations instead of all locations at once.
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u/JustJeff88 Oct 02 '22
Corps: Unions are bad, so we are going to close our stores that want to unionise. Not because we are afraid, we just want to stop the badness.
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Oct 05 '22
Trader Joe's? They were a place I could always feel good about shopping at, for so many reasons.
I need more information.
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u/Lion_Silent Oct 01 '22
Ironically enough, that Trader Joes is located right next to Union Square