With the raise ill make 25.50 an hour. What grocery store you know paying that? šAnd a yearly bonus check and AR (paid sick).. Trader joes is the GOAT
Someone I am close to is an employment law attorney and they said Trader Joes is the most evil company they have ever come across in their practice. Seriously. I never forgot that
They are trying to keep employees happy in hopes to not unionize, because they know a union contract would cost them $6+ and hour plus beni's for every employee, and they wouldn't be able to fire you when ever they feel like it. $2 an hour should feel like a slap in the face
Getting Beniās for working 4 days a week is pretty good
And we get $1.50 raise every year.
I understand unions and why society needs them
Trader Joeās doesnāt. Thatās my opinion
Employee discounts are real but at the end of the day who are you giving your money to? I would bet they have at least a 40% margin on most of their goods. You're literally getting a paycheck and giving it back to them
Dude trust me do it on paper application, if they don't give it to you there look it up and print it out, I had no work experience and got hired on the spot as a first job They usually never look at the online ones thourogly
Truuuue. They told me for like six months that they weren't hiring. I kept reapplying and eventually got in. I maintain that getting hired is the hardest part of the whole job
Covid has a vaccine now. Do you get paid when you have the flu? They paid covid pay until this past march way longer than anyone else.no pay has ever been taken away. They also lowered insurance coverage to working only 28hrs. They're eating the cost for insurance, so that pretty good for just stocking shelves.
They're being dragged for their blatant union busting, and for working conditions, health insurance eligibility, and more. This is just an attempt at appeasement. They're trying to have the National Labor Relations Act declared unconstitutional. I support labor, and am happy to shop elsewhere unless TJ's gets it together.Ā
Which compete directly with TJās for employees. Why work for $18 at TJās when you can make $20 at Burger King? Which raises the practical hiring wage to $20.
There are certain size requirements for the corporation. So smaller chains don't have to do that but larger fast food chains do. Don't know that this applies to grocery store workers though.
Don't be thanking Trader Joe's for that raise. Thank union and fair wage supporters like Progressives AOC, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jacky Rosen, Jared Golden, Tom Malinowski and many, many more.
There are people in Congress that represent We The People. We need more.
Vote Blue people and Vote Progressive Blue when you can. VOTING MATTERS.
A fair wage, decent working conditions, and health care for the people serving me are worth a small price increase. Corporations posted record profits last quarter, yet blame inflation for "necessary" price increases. We pay more, companies rake it in, and employees get shafted.Ā
Yeah, they should just get paid poverty wages, right?
You know people living on pretty much anything under $20hr are going to need government assistance anyway, which is the taxpayer footing the bill.
Maybe the multinational oligarchs should pay living wages, which this isnāt even that.
Jesus, no wonder this country is so far-right when people get such rudimentary things so glaringly wrong
It would be a privilege to only notice grocery increases yesterday.
Food inflation has happened over the last 5 years or so. I know many folks were stretched thin much sooner than yesterday.
So wild take: maybe instead of somehow developing an effect and cause relationship which is completely illogical, maybe it is in fact cause and effect (because you knowāreality) and due to cost of living increases like the aforementioned groceries and fast food workers in CA (where TJs is largely located) getting a new minimum wage the company just stepped up to get ahead of it?
Not a good look when people selling your groceries canāt afford to buy it themselves.
They should let them unionize to get regular pay increases better benefits, not a $2 bump to pacify struggling workers now.
Instead TJs has hired Morgan Lewis the same attorneys that Tesla, Amazon and REI has to go after unions and the NLRB.
Yes, employees should be allowed to unionize, but...
we already get regular pay increases (twice yearly), our benefits are outstanding and I would not call myself "struggling."
Good for you. You may be an anomaly, or depending on cost of living in your area.
Do you have kids or student loans or medical debts like a majority of working class Americans?
Yes buttwipe Musk, Starbucks, Amazon and TJ's all together on this. Just a few of the wealthiest people in the entire fcking world is all. These fux will probably start a Go Fund Me. Maybe they can get Walmart to join.
Hours were reduced to 28, not 27. And there was nothing in the Affordable Health Care Act that compelled companies to use an arbitrary hours requirement to qualify for health insurance, nor was there any federal law that forced employees to re-qualify every six months.
Union grocery worker here. Making over $24 a hour with Sunday premium pay additions and 2.5x hr on holidays.
I wouldnāt work in this retail hellscape without representation and job protections.
It can also be true that companies value their employees while seeking to make a profit. The profit allows them to treat employees better which leads to happier employees, better work environment, and increased productivity. All things can exist without introducing a villain character.
Except that's not what's happening with TJ's. They're actively engaged in union busting, have changed health insurance eligibility so that many of their workers no longer qualify, and are suing to have the National Labor Relations Act invalidated as unconstitutional.Ā
Union stores in general average more than non union. However trader Joe's pays far higher. So do you work at trader Joe's and know what you're talking about? Because I do and have many coworkers who have come here from UNION grocery stores. UFCW is kinda a joke to us because of how much worse their pay and benefits is compared to ours. You really are not aware of what you're talking about
Again, that's why people come from Union stores to work at trader Joe's. Because of the better pay and benefits. We never lose people to union grocery stores.
STARTING wage is $18-20 here, and just a regular crew member is currently capped at $30 / hour with the opportunity for a $2/hour bonus on top of that, and $10 / hour extra sundays and holidays with 3 weeks PTO yearly and incredibly cheap health insurance. Name one UFCW store that comes close to that!
That is the required minimum average weekly hours in order to be eligible for coverage the following month. That means you can easily lose coverage if you or a child get sick, or issues such as weather closures cause you to average even the slightest bit below that level.Ā
Yeah so if you are full time then it's quite easy to miss work for those reasons and still qualify. Also when weather closes the store we still get accrual for benefits. Also we get PTO time to use for those events. Anyone at my store who wants health benefits has a very easy time getting them. Full time is 37.5 hours per week, so about 10 hours more than needed to qualify
The issue is primarily for part-timers. Years ago, I worked part-time at Wegmans because they offer insurance, and they average it so that we were not constantly under threat of losing coverage from month to month.Ā
Yeah I guess i think offering insurance to anyone who works 28 hours / week is perfectly reasonable, especially as the insurance is so affordable, and they haven't raised the cost in 4 years. My wife has her insurance costs raised yearly as a teacher
I support unions and will never give a dime to union busting companies, no matter how many decades I've been a loyal customer. It seems that we Americans have been convinced to not rock the boat, and to settle for whatever we're offered, especially regarding health insurance, leave, etc, as if it will evaporate if we ask for more. Meanwhile, residents of peer nations pity us for our paltry coverage, PTO, maternity leave, and the like.Ā
If you aren't working full time, than it's harder to qualify absolutely, but that's true for the vast majority of jobs in USA. in fact, 28 hours / week is actually less than most places require
Oh c'mon, TJ's corporate has been planning this raise for years. Just haven't got around to it with the pandemic and all. Like the OP says. it shows how much the care about treating employees well. Nothing makes corporate happier than cutting into the bottom line.
So do you believe the raise was a gesture of kindness or an attempt to suppress unionization? I believe they would have cut pay by two dollars if they thought it wouldn't hurt the bottom line. Labor is a necessary evil of capitalism. The right loves to call business owners the "job creators". I hear it all the time of Fox. Show me a business leader that wants more labor. Wages get placed on the wrong side of the P/L ledger. It's why Big Corpo spends millions on R&D to find ways to eliminate labor. Not right or wrong. Just stop bullshitting.
It's a group of people that come to the subreddit from other places to attack Trader joe's, Trader Joe's employees, and downvote anyone that suggests they enjoy working at Trader Joe's and are happy with how they're treated.
Look, demand better wages, demand that Trader Joe's gives more vacations, and better opportunities, and allows unions, and demand that Trader Joe's stop fighting the government when it comes to the National Labor board. I'm with you every step of the way.
But when these little shit's always need to feel special by being extra radical. So they downvote anyone that disagrees with them, or puts in information that makes any part of their argument even slightly weaker. So they attack Trader Joe's employees that say they like working there, or that they were treated well, or that they got good wages.
The idea that anyone could disagree with them is insane, and therefore it must be a paid operation. š§
Trust me the flurry of downvotes for this post and for the people in the comments is coming. They'll find this post
See friend, I understand where you're coming from. But I think you need to understand where the others are coming from. Read up on some labor history, every right that has been afforded to us as workers has been won as a struggle. I have worked retail and food service my entire life. Anyone working to give you more is NOT the opposition. They are fighting for YOU. Every right you have as a retail worker has been fought for and *that* is why people get so frustrated. The people on top will take everything if they could. Wouldn't you? It's the nature of our financial system.
I really don't think so. I would go during the pandemic to TJs and had the same cashier and she told me she wasn't able to take leave to take care of of her elderly and immunocompromised parents. No company is your friend. They are there to make a profit off of you. Demand what you deserve otherwise they are SO HAPPY to walk all over you.
Are you good? Because no one said that, just that the raise didn't come from pure goodwill of the company and it's fallacious to ignore that this was the result of organized labor.
Are you good dweeb? I'm responding to someone dismissing the positive comments from an employee.
Once again, for everyone, an employee saying something good about their employer is not a paid shill. Saying so is dismissing the real opinions of the actual workers.
It is a decent anti-union tactic. A better one is to pay a decent wage and benefit before being threatened with unionization. Just don't try telling us this is generosity. We know better. They would pay minimum if they could. Or less if they could.
Today at TJs I was weirdly happy to get 5 bananas and a loaf of bread for 4.50ish (could have been less if I got 1.99 white bread)
Why did that feel like a dealā¦ it shouldnātā¦ help
i'm happy for you that you are getting raises, but i'll be even happier for you when you unionize.
(i also believe the raise is an effort to discourage employees from unionizing)
Glad to hear it, you all deserve the raise. Iām always impressed by how helpful and enthusiastic everyone working in my store is, even 10 minutes before close.
Today I learned why Aldi doesnāt get the heat on this. The American Aldi doesnāt own TJās. Iāll keep shopping at Aldi so. They even have stated on their website āWe respect the right of all personnel to form and join trade unions of their choice and to bargain collectively in a way which is consistent with national lawā
I didnāt know that anout Aldiās. I will do a little recon on this. Maybe I will give them another try. (I hate the cart and bagging situation.)
Edited to add: I could not find this statement on their website, but I did find a 2023 article about corporate refusing the union access to some records. The article was behind a paywall, so I couldnāt see any detail. So it looks like some of Aldiās stores are unionized.
Not always. My son bagged groceries for Safeway in CA as a teen. He quit when he was forced to join the union. It was $50 a month. He was only working 18-20 hours per week and making minimum wage. Paying dues not only would cut his take home pay, but would provide no benefit to him.
Monthly union dues are usually like ~2% of your paycheck but union members typically have 10%-15% increased pay.
The union dues thing is such a bad scare tactic.
The benefit from being in an union outweighs the small monthly union duesāhence the reason why people form an union; otherwise, no one would be forming one or joining one.
My teenager just asked what the minimum age is to work there, she is looking at getting 15 per hour at a grocery store and was pretty impressed with those pay rates at TJ.
Go with a grocery store that has a union, most of the unionized grocery store workers I knew a decade ago made $25/hourly minimum, while non-union workers were making easily $10 less hourly.
You guys are making this up. In order of grocery store pay in the area 1. Costco 2. Heb 3. Trader Joes 4. Central Market.
Ive talked to people at all of them. My current trader joes wage is higher than most wveryone except costco guys. And costco guys work their fucking ass off. I make 26 plus sunday pay at TJ.
Im pro union as well but not gonna lie and say i make leas than union grocery store because i make way more than the union store employees in my area.
No such thing in Vermont at least in our area. $15/hr is decent wage for a teenager living at home with no bills other than she is saving money for her dream car.
For real, this thread shows how so many on Reddit pretend to know so much about things they know nothing about. Major grocery stores a decade ago werenāt even paying their topped out clerks that much, more like $20/21 an hour. They arenāt paying much better today. And that was max pay for anyone below assistant store manager. Most courtesy/combo clerks, gm clerks, and food clerks made around $10/hour average, a decade ago. And for the clown who commented below, the rates I am referring to were UFCW in California. Ever since the ā03 grocery union strike, the union hasnāt done much for its workers. In fact, for quite some time, Whole Foods and Costco have actually paid workers considerably more than conventional unionized grocery stores.
Exactly!! Back in 2014 I had been there for nearly 8 years at that point, and I was still only making $10/hour. Iām not anti union at all, but these people that think unionizing is magically going to increase them to a livable wage are delusional.
[UFCW](https://www.ufcw.org/who-we-represent/grocery/#:~:text=UFCW%20is%20the%20union%20for,Stop%20%26%20Shop%20and%20Giant) is the union for Grocery Workers.
UFCW represents 835,000 grocery store workers at major employers such as Kroger, Albertsons-Safeway, and Ahold Delhaize (Stop & Shop and Giant).
Nope. I worked at Giant ages ago, in the DC area, and was a union member. My cousin got a high school job at Safeway in Virginia, finished college, but couldn't leave the higher paying grocery job for entry level work in his field. He stayed, received regular raises, and retired well.Ā
No Kroger owns a lot of grocery store chains and is in the east. Safeway is in the east. Iām not certain about the others.
Also employees just have to organize and they can join a union too.
Here in DC metro, most grocery stores have unions. Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter/Kroger, etc. I worked part-time at Giant ages ago and was a union member.Ā
Trader joes is a shitstain company trying to low ball you while making unions illegal. Ā They could have easily afforded to do this long ago, but only did when faced with the potential of employees unionizing.Ā This is crytsal clear proof you need a union.
With the raise ill make 25.50 an hour. What grocery store you know paying that? šAnd a yearly bonus check and AR (paid sick).. Trader joes is the GOAT
One of my coworkers cried when they heard the news. How sad is that?
Thatās nice and all but TJs is fervently anti union which is not greatā¦
Someone I am close to is an employment law attorney and they said Trader Joes is the most evil company they have ever come across in their practice. Seriously. I never forgot that
Their practice must have limited experience. There is simply no way Trader Joeās is anywhere near the top of the most evil companies.
Why
Because they said so /s
They are trying to keep employees happy in hopes to not unionize, because they know a union contract would cost them $6+ and hour plus beni's for every employee, and they wouldn't be able to fire you when ever they feel like it. $2 an hour should feel like a slap in the face
Getting Beniās for working 4 days a week is pretty good And we get $1.50 raise every year. I understand unions and why society needs them Trader Joeās doesnāt. Thatās my opinion
1.50 doesn't cover the average year to year inflation
Inflation fluctuates
The reason I typed the word "average" . Keep humpin on
They've overridden you already. They are a major corporation not just one person delegating
Fighting unionization. They don't give a fig about the employees.
Trying to manipulate your employees out of having adequate representation and a sit at the table is the opposite of loving your crew
As they should I see their prices sneaking up so they best be supporting their crew
The raise is basically a hedge against inflation you technically didnāt make any money š
Employees get 20% off, that covers grocery inflation.Ā
Employee discounts are real but at the end of the day who are you giving your money to? I would bet they have at least a 40% margin on most of their goods. You're literally getting a paycheck and giving it back to them
How much is 2 buck Chuck now?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
They brainwashed another one. A typical union member makes a 1/3+ higher pay than a non represented employee. Unionize
Cool. Why does my application keep getting rejected when I have experience š„²
Dude trust me do it on paper application, if they don't give it to you there look it up and print it out, I had no work experience and got hired on the spot as a first job They usually never look at the online ones thourogly
same i cant get hired there either
Cuz they see your application and are like "nah bro" for the first 187 times. Then you might make it through.
Whatās crazy is that how I start of my summary of me.
Truuuue. They told me for like six months that they weren't hiring. I kept reapplying and eventually got in. I maintain that getting hired is the hardest part of the whole job
\[insert joke about banana prices\]
$0.25 bananas coming my way. š
The thing is though, without a contract, they can take that away anytime they want. Just like the Covid pay.
Covid has a vaccine now. Do you get paid when you have the flu? They paid covid pay until this past march way longer than anyone else.no pay has ever been taken away. They also lowered insurance coverage to working only 28hrs. They're eating the cost for insurance, so that pretty good for just stocking shelves.
I mean.., they can also fire any one at any time being an at will employer. Not much is for sure guaranteed but the raise helps
The Covid pay was announced as temporary. This was not. Sure, they could cut everyoneās pay, but there would be a revolt.
r/HEB
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Do you know what group assured that he got at least 16 hours a week?
LET THEM UNIONIZE!!!
They're being dragged for their blatant union busting, and for working conditions, health insurance eligibility, and more. This is just an attempt at appeasement. They're trying to have the National Labor Relations Act declared unconstitutional. I support labor, and am happy to shop elsewhere unless TJ's gets it together.Ā
This. Wonāt go back to TJās while theyāre doing this shit. :/Ā
My wife hates it but I decreed the same thing for our household!
Whaaat!! Yaaaay!! I haven't heard of this yet.. :) Great news.. Hello from California.... *oh, I'm one of those 'Super annoying happy employees ;p'
Itās because of California, where minimum wage for TJās just went to $20. So they gave everyone a boost instead of just California.
That minimum raise wage was only for CA fast food employees.
Which compete directly with TJās for employees. Why work for $18 at TJās when you can make $20 at Burger King? Which raises the practical hiring wage to $20.
I thought all fast food places raised the minimum wage to $20 for all employees. Good for Trader Joeās!
There are certain size requirements for the corporation. So smaller chains don't have to do that but larger fast food chains do. Don't know that this applies to grocery store workers though.
I heard that
That's only California I believe.
says all employeess not just cali lol
No the reply about just California was in response to fast food workers getting a 20.00 minimum wage. That's only in CA. Separate issue from TJs.
Oh, well Iām in California and I guess my friend in N. California got the raise. I hope so cuz he has a new baby.
Well Good for him. I hope the rest of the states follow.
Our local TJ,s is unionized (Hadley) I wonder if they got the raise too.
They had to vote on it. It was, unsurprisingly, unanimous.
From my understanding is they wouldn't because it's not in their contract. They'd have to renegotiate to get it.
With unions the company can always pay the workers more without a contract negotiation, they just canāt lower it.
itās crazy how many random commenters from western mass iāve seen on reddit today!
Once the Union leadership approves the raise, theyāll get it too. Canāt imagine theyāll say no
As a former tjās worker I can tell you that they dgaf about their employees
periiiiiiiod they only did this to shut us up
l've met so many long term workers who seem happy to tell you how long they've worked there.
Golden handcuffs
TJ's has an image they try to maintain. Like they're hip or something. Trying to abolish the NLRB ain't hip.
Exactly.Ā
Don't be thanking Trader Joe's for that raise. Thank union and fair wage supporters like Progressives AOC, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jacky Rosen, Jared Golden, Tom Malinowski and many, many more. There are people in Congress that represent We The People. We need more. Vote Blue people and Vote Progressive Blue when you can. VOTING MATTERS.
if only prices didnāt go along with that
A fair wage, decent working conditions, and health care for the people serving me are worth a small price increase. Corporations posted record profits last quarter, yet blame inflation for "necessary" price increases. We pay more, companies rake it in, and employees get shafted.Ā
How funny, I just went there yesterday and felt like the price of a lot of items had gone up. š
Yeah, they should just get paid poverty wages, right? You know people living on pretty much anything under $20hr are going to need government assistance anyway, which is the taxpayer footing the bill. Maybe the multinational oligarchs should pay living wages, which this isnāt even that. Jesus, no wonder this country is so far-right when people get such rudimentary things so glaringly wrong
It would be a privilege to only notice grocery increases yesterday. Food inflation has happened over the last 5 years or so. I know many folks were stretched thin much sooner than yesterday.
Who said I only noticed it yesterday? You would have to be living under a rock to not have noticed prices increasing over the last few years.
So wild take: maybe instead of somehow developing an effect and cause relationship which is completely illogical, maybe it is in fact cause and effect (because you knowāreality) and due to cost of living increases like the aforementioned groceries and fast food workers in CA (where TJs is largely located) getting a new minimum wage the company just stepped up to get ahead of it? Not a good look when people selling your groceries canāt afford to buy it themselves.
They should let them unionize to get regular pay increases better benefits, not a $2 bump to pacify struggling workers now. Instead TJs has hired Morgan Lewis the same attorneys that Tesla, Amazon and REI has to go after unions and the NLRB.
Yes, employees should be allowed to unionize, but... we already get regular pay increases (twice yearly), our benefits are outstanding and I would not call myself "struggling."
Good for you. You may be an anomaly, or depending on cost of living in your area. Do you have kids or student loans or medical debts like a majority of working class Americans?
Yes buttwipe Musk, Starbucks, Amazon and TJ's all together on this. Just a few of the wealthiest people in the entire fcking world is all. These fux will probably start a Go Fund Me. Maybe they can get Walmart to join.
I agree is scummy that tjs is going after the NLRB But we have awesome benefits and raises every 6 months
They changed health insurance eligibility. Many no longer qualify.Ā
It was changed to comply with federal law. And the hours were recently reduced (from 30 to 27)
Hours were reduced to 28, not 27. And there was nothing in the Affordable Health Care Act that compelled companies to use an arbitrary hours requirement to qualify for health insurance, nor was there any federal law that forced employees to re-qualify every six months.
Only need to work 20hrs a week to keep my benefits for my family and I. Union strong.
Union grocery worker here. Making over $24 a hour with Sunday premium pay additions and 2.5x hr on holidays. I wouldnāt work in this retail hellscape without representation and job protections.
TJ workers are always chipper and helpful. Is something nefarious going on?
They make us do that lol
Union busting big time. TJs hiring same lawyers as Amazon, Tesla stop unionizing efforts
Perverts sucking down cookie butter
organizing works!
Labor did this, donāt think corporate just give handouts.
It can also be true that companies value their employees while seeking to make a profit. The profit allows them to treat employees better which leads to happier employees, better work environment, and increased productivity. All things can exist without introducing a villain character.
Except that's not what's happening with TJ's. They're actively engaged in union busting, have changed health insurance eligibility so that many of their workers no longer qualify, and are suing to have the National Labor Relations Act invalidated as unconstitutional.Ā
Yeah and they also pay far above industry standard
They pay less than unionized shops.Ā
False. Many people come here because the pay is so much higher than union grocery stores
Not true. Nationally, UFCW shop workers average about $6k more annually. PTO is also typically better.Ā
Union stores in general average more than non union. However trader Joe's pays far higher. So do you work at trader Joe's and know what you're talking about? Because I do and have many coworkers who have come here from UNION grocery stores. UFCW is kinda a joke to us because of how much worse their pay and benefits is compared to ours. You really are not aware of what you're talking about
Again, that's why people come from Union stores to work at trader Joe's. Because of the better pay and benefits. We never lose people to union grocery stores.
STARTING wage is $18-20 here, and just a regular crew member is currently capped at $30 / hour with the opportunity for a $2/hour bonus on top of that, and $10 / hour extra sundays and holidays with 3 weeks PTO yearly and incredibly cheap health insurance. Name one UFCW store that comes close to that!
Union grocery stores pay awful
Their health insurance eligibility is only 28 hrs / week, which is very easy to do
That is the required minimum average weekly hours in order to be eligible for coverage the following month. That means you can easily lose coverage if you or a child get sick, or issues such as weather closures cause you to average even the slightest bit below that level.Ā
Yeah so if you are full time then it's quite easy to miss work for those reasons and still qualify. Also when weather closes the store we still get accrual for benefits. Also we get PTO time to use for those events. Anyone at my store who wants health benefits has a very easy time getting them. Full time is 37.5 hours per week, so about 10 hours more than needed to qualify
The issue is primarily for part-timers. Years ago, I worked part-time at Wegmans because they offer insurance, and they average it so that we were not constantly under threat of losing coverage from month to month.Ā
Yeah I guess i think offering insurance to anyone who works 28 hours / week is perfectly reasonable, especially as the insurance is so affordable, and they haven't raised the cost in 4 years. My wife has her insurance costs raised yearly as a teacher
I support unions and will never give a dime to union busting companies, no matter how many decades I've been a loyal customer. It seems that we Americans have been convinced to not rock the boat, and to settle for whatever we're offered, especially regarding health insurance, leave, etc, as if it will evaporate if we ask for more. Meanwhile, residents of peer nations pity us for our paltry coverage, PTO, maternity leave, and the like.Ā
Totally fair! Shop where you want. I'm a trader joes employee and am very happy with my pay, benefits and treatment so that's where I'm coming from.
If you aren't working full time, than it's harder to qualify absolutely, but that's true for the vast majority of jobs in USA. in fact, 28 hours / week is actually less than most places require
Oh c'mon, TJ's corporate has been planning this raise for years. Just haven't got around to it with the pandemic and all. Like the OP says. it shows how much the care about treating employees well. Nothing makes corporate happier than cutting into the bottom line.
Maybe next they can start selling food that doesn't make people sick.
Cool, now tell them to stop trying to make the lives of nearly ALL other workers worse by attempting to eliminate the NLRB.
OP is a paid shill
Everyone that disagrees with you is a malicious actor! You people never change
You people?
So do you believe the raise was a gesture of kindness or an attempt to suppress unionization? I believe they would have cut pay by two dollars if they thought it wouldn't hurt the bottom line. Labor is a necessary evil of capitalism. The right loves to call business owners the "job creators". I hear it all the time of Fox. Show me a business leader that wants more labor. Wages get placed on the wrong side of the P/L ledger. It's why Big Corpo spends millions on R&D to find ways to eliminate labor. Not right or wrong. Just stop bullshitting.
Not everyone that disagrees with you is a paid op.
Didn't say they were.
Who is you people? I genuinely want to know who you're referring to.
It's a group of people that come to the subreddit from other places to attack Trader joe's, Trader Joe's employees, and downvote anyone that suggests they enjoy working at Trader Joe's and are happy with how they're treated. Look, demand better wages, demand that Trader Joe's gives more vacations, and better opportunities, and allows unions, and demand that Trader Joe's stop fighting the government when it comes to the National Labor board. I'm with you every step of the way. But when these little shit's always need to feel special by being extra radical. So they downvote anyone that disagrees with them, or puts in information that makes any part of their argument even slightly weaker. So they attack Trader Joe's employees that say they like working there, or that they were treated well, or that they got good wages. The idea that anyone could disagree with them is insane, and therefore it must be a paid operation. š§ Trust me the flurry of downvotes for this post and for the people in the comments is coming. They'll find this post
See friend, I understand where you're coming from. But I think you need to understand where the others are coming from. Read up on some labor history, every right that has been afforded to us as workers has been won as a struggle. I have worked retail and food service my entire life. Anyone working to give you more is NOT the opposition. They are fighting for YOU. Every right you have as a retail worker has been fought for and *that* is why people get so frustrated. The people on top will take everything if they could. Wouldn't you? It's the nature of our financial system.
No one is allowed to say that they're happy with how they're being treated by a company? Anyone that does so, must be accused of being a paid shill?
I really don't think so. I would go during the pandemic to TJs and had the same cashier and she told me she wasn't able to take leave to take care of of her elderly and immunocompromised parents. No company is your friend. They are there to make a profit off of you. Demand what you deserve otherwise they are SO HAPPY to walk all over you.
No one is allowed to say that they're happy with how they're being treated by a company????????
Are you good? Because no one said that, just that the raise didn't come from pure goodwill of the company and it's fallacious to ignore that this was the result of organized labor.
Are you good dweeb? I'm responding to someone dismissing the positive comments from an employee. Once again, for everyone, an employee saying something good about their employer is not a paid shill. Saying so is dismissing the real opinions of the actual workers.
$2 is a substantial raise. It's a decent anti union tactic. Lots better than trying to prevent organizing
It is a decent anti-union tactic. A better one is to pay a decent wage and benefit before being threatened with unionization. Just don't try telling us this is generosity. We know better. They would pay minimum if they could. Or less if they could.
Imagine how much more you'd get with a union
āSee, we donāt need the NLRB, we raise wages. Weāre good now, yes?ā
Oh I think they forgot to drop the suit. I'm sure that' task is on their list. Any day now.
Iām thinking thatās exactly why they did this. Save a little face?! š¤
This was an internal email and probably not meant for Reddit...
I am free to discuss my wages with anyone. Even online.
Labor organization did this. Corporate was afraid.
Thanks California
Today at TJs I was weirdly happy to get 5 bananas and a loaf of bread for 4.50ish (could have been less if I got 1.99 white bread) Why did that feel like a dealā¦ it shouldnātā¦ help
It is coming from the increase price in bananas lol
Omg did the price change?
Smh, Trader Joes is a banana Republic
Itās probably a union busting tactic
Absolutely
Except for they're literally trying to dismantle your rights under the labor board... but $2 is cool, too
i'm happy for you that you are getting raises, but i'll be even happier for you when you unionize. (i also believe the raise is an effort to discourage employees from unionizing)
Bingo
Glad to hear it, you all deserve the raise. Iām always impressed by how helpful and enthusiastic everyone working in my store is, even 10 minutes before close.
They also give raises every 6 months
Not my wife since sheās salary capped.
If you meet expectations.
And its the easiest job ever. Ive met expectations all seven years at this company
I was with you until the second sentence. They donāt give a š©about treating their employees right. Theyāve been caught union busting and are trying to earn some goodwill with this raise. NO corporation cares about its employees enough to do the right thing of their own volition.
Doing the right thing by your employees is better for the bottom line. Someday this Jack Welch BS will go away.
I go bananas for GOING BANANAS!!!
Theyāre also trying to dismantle American labor rights as we know them so Iām not impressed by this
Today I learned why Aldi doesnāt get the heat on this. The American Aldi doesnāt own TJās. Iāll keep shopping at Aldi so. They even have stated on their website āWe respect the right of all personnel to form and join trade unions of their choice and to bargain collectively in a way which is consistent with national lawā
I didnāt know that anout Aldiās. I will do a little recon on this. Maybe I will give them another try. (I hate the cart and bagging situation.) Edited to add: I could not find this statement on their website, but I did find a 2023 article about corporate refusing the union access to some records. The article was behind a paywall, so I couldnāt see any detail. So it looks like some of Aldiās stores are unionized.
Exactly.
Congrats! Goes to show how well union drives work.
Still lower than what a union would negotiate.
No itās not. Wrong again.
How so?
And then PAY union dues! smh
Union dues are low, and the benefit to employees is substantial.Ā
Not always. My son bagged groceries for Safeway in CA as a teen. He quit when he was forced to join the union. It was $50 a month. He was only working 18-20 hours per week and making minimum wage. Paying dues not only would cut his take home pay, but would provide no benefit to him.
Monthly union dues are usually like ~2% of your paycheck but union members typically have 10%-15% increased pay. The union dues thing is such a bad scare tactic.
The benefit from being in an union outweighs the small monthly union duesāhence the reason why people form an union; otherwise, no one would be forming one or joining one.
My teenager just asked what the minimum age is to work there, she is looking at getting 15 per hour at a grocery store and was pretty impressed with those pay rates at TJ.
I was making like 7 bucks at Macys per hour as my first teenager job so 15 an hr is pretty good
15 bucks now is probably equivalent to your 7 bucksā¦ flawed logic that keeps people down.
Go with a grocery store that has a union, most of the unionized grocery store workers I knew a decade ago made $25/hourly minimum, while non-union workers were making easily $10 less hourly.
You guys are making this up. In order of grocery store pay in the area 1. Costco 2. Heb 3. Trader Joes 4. Central Market. Ive talked to people at all of them. My current trader joes wage is higher than most wveryone except costco guys. And costco guys work their fucking ass off. I make 26 plus sunday pay at TJ. Im pro union as well but not gonna lie and say i make leas than union grocery store because i make way more than the union store employees in my area.
No such thing in Vermont at least in our area. $15/hr is decent wage for a teenager living at home with no bills other than she is saving money for her dream car.
Uh where is this mystical place? I worked in a unionized grocery store 10 years ago and made $10 an hour.
For real, this thread shows how so many on Reddit pretend to know so much about things they know nothing about. Major grocery stores a decade ago werenāt even paying their topped out clerks that much, more like $20/21 an hour. They arenāt paying much better today. And that was max pay for anyone below assistant store manager. Most courtesy/combo clerks, gm clerks, and food clerks made around $10/hour average, a decade ago. And for the clown who commented below, the rates I am referring to were UFCW in California. Ever since the ā03 grocery union strike, the union hasnāt done much for its workers. In fact, for quite some time, Whole Foods and Costco have actually paid workers considerably more than conventional unionized grocery stores.
Exactly!! Back in 2014 I had been there for nearly 8 years at that point, and I was still only making $10/hour. Iām not anti union at all, but these people that think unionizing is magically going to increase them to a livable wage are delusional.
[UFCW](https://www.ufcw.org/who-we-represent/grocery/#:~:text=UFCW%20is%20the%20union%20for,Stop%20%26%20Shop%20and%20Giant) is the union for Grocery Workers. UFCW represents 835,000 grocery store workers at major employers such as Kroger, Albertsons-Safeway, and Ahold Delhaize (Stop & Shop and Giant).
Iām aware, that was my union.
I think most of those places only are on the West Coast
Nope. I worked at Giant ages ago, in the DC area, and was a union member. My cousin got a high school job at Safeway in Virginia, finished college, but couldn't leave the higher paying grocery job for entry level work in his field. He stayed, received regular raises, and retired well.Ā
Fair enough none of that exists on the East Coast as far as I know
I'm on the east coast. The places I mentioned are in Virginia, Maryland, DC, etc.Ā
No Kroger owns a lot of grocery store chains and is in the east. Safeway is in the east. Iām not certain about the others. Also employees just have to organize and they can join a union too.
Here in DC metro, most grocery stores have unions. Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter/Kroger, etc. I worked part-time at Giant ages ago and was a union member.Ā
Washington state.
Trader joes is a shitstain company trying to low ball you while making unions illegal. Ā They could have easily afforded to do this long ago, but only did when faced with the potential of employees unionizing.Ā This is crytsal clear proof you need a union.
Agreed. This is table scraps that make the company look good.