HADLEY — The union representing employees at a Trader Joe’s store on Russell Street is alleging that the store fired a longtime employee who was a vocal supporter of unionizing efforts.

The store contends, however, that he violated the company’s safety practice by storing a power tool on the premises.

The termination of Stephen Andrade last Thursday prompted the Trader Joe’s United union to file an unfair labor practices charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board on Friday. The union contends the action is retaliation against an active member of Trader Joe’s United, which organized successfully last summer.

“We believe this baseless firing is a blatant act of retaliation, and we call on Trader Joe’s to do the right thing: reinstate Steve immediately,” Maeg Yosef, a Hadley employee and union spokeswoman, said in a statement.

In a termination notice to Andrade, the sign maker for the store, the company says his firing came after he was told to remove a power saw in October.

“By failing to remove and keep this power tool in the store, you demonstrated disregard for the company’s safety practice and your supervisors request that you follow our safety practices. This follows a continued pattern of you not taking direction,” reads the termination notice.

Efforts to reach representative from Trader Joe’s were unsuccessful.

Andrade had worked for the company for almost 18 years, about half of those at the store located at Hampshire Mall, creating the custom signs for which the store is known. He is one of 90 employees there.

“I believe my firing was retaliatory, for two reasons: I’ve demonstrated a willingness to actually discuss work problems with management, and I am and have been vocal in my support of our union,” Andrade said.

The power tool in question, a jigsaw, did not belong to Andrade, and predated the beginning of his tenure at the store, according to the union. Yosef said it was essentially gathering dust in a corner, though in the past the jigsaw was used by store artists to create signs.

“My termination did not come out of any true safety concern,” Andrade said. “One only has to look at the number of injury reports at the store recently to realize that there are far more dangerous safety hazards in a grocery store than an unused, unpowered jigsaw.”

The Hadley store was the first Trader Joe’s in the country to unionize, winning an election on July 28, 2022. Three more stores have joined Trader Joe’s United since then, in Minneapolis, Louisville and Oakland.

The Hadley union, though, has not reached a contract, with Yosef noting that one union goal is more consistency in discipline.

Since last June, Trader Joe’s United has filed numerous unfair labor practice charges at the Hadley store, accusing management of violations including captive audience meetings, retaliation, making unlawful statements, and failing to bargain in good faith. The NLRB has yet to make a ruling on these charges.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>