Federal Labor Board Says Trader Joe's Illegally Closed NYC Store To Thwart Union Efforts

Federal labor officials have alleged Trader Joe’s of unlawfully shutting down its wine shop in New York City to hinder a union organizing effort.

What Happened: The National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel has filed a complaint alleging that the grocery chain’s decision to close the store was an act of illegal retaliation, reported HuffPost on Thursday. The complaint also accuses Trader Joe’s of unlawfully “interrogating” pro-union workers and threatening to revoke benefits if they unionized.

The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which was leading the organizing efforts at the store, has expressed satisfaction with the complaint, stating that it brings the affected workers closer to the justice they deserve.

A mail sent by Benzinga at the time of publishing didn’t elicit any response from Trader Joe’s.

See Also: How Beamr Technology Can Boost Machine Learning

Why It Matters: This incident adds to the growing list of labor disputes in the U.S. In recent months, there has been a surge in unionization efforts, particularly in the automotive industry. The United Auto Workers union launched a campaign to unionize workers at 13 non-union automakers across the U.S., including Tesla, Toyota, and Volkswagen. This move aimed to bring nearly 150,000 autoworkers under its wing.

These developments coincide with a significant milestone in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, where Trader Joe’s fee capture and revenue hit the second-highest marks on the Avalanche blockchain. The surge in AVAX and JOE prices aligned with a substantial increase in the value of Avalanche’s native token, AVAX.

These labor disputes also come amid a broader push for unionization in the U.S. President Joe Biden publicly backed unionization efforts at companies like Tesla, further fueling the national conversation around workers’ rights and the power dynamics between labor and management.

Read Next: Bitcoin Halving Next Major Catalyst After Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals, But History Shows BTC Could Dip To $34,000 By April

Image by QualityHD via Shutterstock