Cult-favorite supermarket Trader Joe's is known for being friendly. One worker says she's unionizing so the store will live up to that perception: 'We want them to continue to be great jobs for people.'

• Trader Joe's workers in Hadley, Massachusetts, are trying to form a union.
• If they're successful, it would be the cult-favorite supermarket's first unionized store.

From snacks with a cult following to friendly employees donning vibrant floral shirts, Trader Joe's has cultivated a reputation as a grocery store that's a cut above the rest.

Now, as workers at a Hadley, Massachusetts, location move to unionize, they want to reconcile that image with the reality.

"Part of why we're organizing is because we want the company to continue to match up to that perception," Maeg Yosef, a crew member and organizer at the Trader Joe's Hadley location, told Insider. "It used to be a lot closer. It used to be more the reality. We care about our jobs. We don't hate the company — we care about our jobs and we want them to continue to be great jobs for people."

In mid-May, workers at the Hadley store sent Trader Joe's CEO Dan Bane a letter saying that they "believe that a union is a necessary next step for us" and had organized themselves as Trader Joe's United. Yosef said that workers at the Hadley store began working together on this in January.

"I think it was a long time coming," Yosef, who's worked at the Hadley store for 18 years, said. There's been a "clear trend of them taking benefits away," she said. Some reasons for organizing include advocating for higher wages, stronger retirement benefits, and a safer workplace, she said. Yosef herself said she's been injured on the job — something she's seen happen to others.

"A union was really the only way to protect what we still had and make improvements in our workplace, and actually have a real voice and real power."

It's not the first time Trader Joe's workers have tried to unionize. As Eater's Jenny Zhang reported, a coalition of workers created Crew for a Trader Joe's Union in March 2020, which called on consumers to boycott the store for their own safety. At the time, Bane, the CEO, sent out a letter to workers saying that unionization efforts were a "distraction," according to Eater.

But the latest effort comes after a year of workers pushing back on their prior conditions, setting off a flurry of organizing in food and retail.

"Among essential workers, we collectively had to keep working, even when it could risk our lives," Yosef said. "I feel like it really showed us that the company can't run without us."

Frontline workers have been organizing in droves. In a historic first, an Amazon warehouse unionized. Strikers at Kroger, another supermarket chain, won a $5 hourly raise for some workers after walking off the job for nine days. At least 75 Starbucks locations have unionized since December.

"When I heard about Starbucks, I definitely had a moment where I was like, well, we could do that. That's a possibility for us," Yosef said. "Just seeing other workers organized is definitely a huge inspiration. I think this probably would've happened anyway, and maybe that expedited the process, but I know it feels really good to be part of a larger movement."

Workers at Trader Joe's United still haven't heard back from corporate, according to Yosef, although their manager has provided a written response saying that they would have a fair vote. Trader Joe's did not respond to Insider's request for comment. When reached by the Associated Press, the company referred to the note sent by the store's manager.

If Trader Joe's United is successful, they'd be the first Trader Joe's store to unionize, as New England Public Media reports.

Yosef said that it's time for employers to "understand that it's time to treat workers the way they deserve to be treated, and to compensate them the way they deserve to be compensated."

They should know that "we have power — and that we will organize."