About two years after workers at Trader Joe's in Hadley, Massachusetts, became the first of the grocery chain's stores to unionize, some employees there are now looking to decertify the union representing them.
Those employees filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board with the help of an anti-union group, the National Right to Work Foundation.
The employees say Trader Joe's United is divisive and has cost workers money.
Les Stratford has worked at the Hadley store for nearly a decade. He said nearly half the workers there have signed the petition.
"We are just...a group of employees that said it was so much better before this union was in here. Let's get it back to normal,” Stratford said.
Jamie Edwards, president of Trader's Joe’s United, denied the allegations. He said the petition is the company's latest attempt to foster an anti-worker movement in its stores.
"It should be a red flag to anyone if people who say they're representing the worker are actively fighting against having the means to protect the workers' rights when the company infringes upon it,” Edwards said.
The company and union have yet to agree on a collective bargaining agreement. Trader Joe's United claims the company has retaliated against union leaders.
It's up to the National Labor Relations Board to schedule an election for workers to decide whether to keep the union.
