Trader Joe’s fired Jamie Edwards, the founding president of Trader Joe’s United Local 1 in Hadley, MA on International Workers Day – and lied about the reason for it.
The store management made up an interaction with a customer who says that Jamie overcharged them, but never looked at the sales record to see what was actually charged. The manager provided no proof that any customer had been overcharged. This same manager had falsely accused Jamie of “lunging” at him last year.
Despite the progressive image they love to project, Trader Joe’s corporate has been fighting our union tooth and nail. Over the past 20 years, they’ve tried to shift away from what made our stores great – good pay, fair benefits, and respect for workers – and embraced the Wall Street model: high turnover, low accountability, and hostility toward organizing.
Let’s be clear: this is retaliation. Jamie has been a fearless, outspoken advocate for the rights of their coworkers. And corporate just made a bet that firing them wouldn’t spark enough public outrage to matter.
This isn’t just about one person – it’s about the right of every Trader Joe’s worker to organize without fear of being fired. If corporate gets away with firing Jamie, they’ll think they can come for anyone, in any store, across the country.
In solidarity,
Trader Joe’s United!
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 
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