You can donate to Trader Joe's United's united solidarity fund HERE.
After months of organizing, on April 19th and 20th Trader Joe's stores in Oakland, CA and New York City will be voting on whether to unionize–and thus on whether to become the fourth and fifth stores at the retailer to unionize. The efforts, organized by independent labor union Trader Joe's United, have been to a slow burn to this point but are clearly picking up steam within the retailer. TJU unionized their first two stores (Hadley, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, MN) in July and August of 2022, and their third in January of 2023 (Louisville, KY).
With that steam–and a broader wave of unionization in the retailer space–has come an incredible outpouring of anti-union efforts by Trader Joe's. Late last year they shuttered a store in the process of unionization. They have vehemently fought the unionization of the Louisville store, beginning with typical anti-union propaganda and later by challenging its election with the NLRB despite a 48-36 union victory. Allegedly, Trader Joe's has also retaliated against pro-union employees at the store, even post-unionization. At the Oakland store, according to employees and reported by the SFGate, Trader Joe's has “interrogat[ed] employees about their union activities” and “engag[ed] in surveillance or creating impression of surveillance of employees' union activities.”
Unionization efforts at both of these stores have been motivated by severe failings of Trader Joe's. According to the Los Angeles Times one of the major motivators in Oakland was a rat infestation at the store which management failed to handle; physical security of employees at the store was another. At the New York City store, according to Gothamist, management has been indifferent to worker concerns. Pandemic protections for employees were rolled back as soon as feasible, and their hazard pay was scaled back; just weeks ago, raw sewage began to leak into the store and employees were forced to be exposed to it despite the store being shut down. Workers at both stores are of course seeking better job security, better pay, and better benefits, but more than anything it seems they just want a store which won't physically endanger them and managers who give a shit.
It seems very likely that at least one of these elections will be a victory for Trader Joe's United. While I'm unsure about the Oakland store, it is believed that about 120 of the approximately 190 workers at the New York City store have signed union cards.