A federal judge has rebuked Trader Joe’s for filing a “meritless” trademark claim against its workers’ union and ordered the grocer to cover the union’s legal fees as a deterrent against similar litigation. The company had claimed that Trader Joe’s United, a new union representing employees at four stores, violated Trader Joe’s trademarks through its … Read more
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Trader Joe’s isn’t backing down in a trademark battle with its workers’ union. Last month a federal judge threw out all of the company’s claims that the union, Trader Joe’s United, had violated its trademarks with the union’s name and logo. The judge went so far as to say that the company’s attorneys nearly deserved … Read more
Trader Joe’s on Wednesday escalated a fight with union members in Kentucky by filing another appeal of their union’s January 2023 election victory. A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board rejected the company’s objections to the vote to unionize and found that the union, Trader Joe’s United, had won fair and square. But … Read more
Trader Joe’s is facing a litany of union-busting charges before the National Labor Relations Board. The agency’s prosecutors have accused the company of illegally retaliating against workers, firing a union supporter and spreading false information in an effort to chill an organizing campaign. But in a hearing last Tuesday, the grocer’s attorney briefly summarized a … Read more
Federal labor officials allege in a new complaint that Trader Joe’s shut down its wine shop in New York City in 2022 in order to blunt a union organizing effort. The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board argues that the grocer’s decision to close the store amounts to unlawful retaliation, and that Trader … Read more
A federal judge threw out Trader Joe’s trademark infringement claim against its workers’ union on Friday, delivering the equivalent of a legal smackdown in an order dismissing the complaint. Hernán D. Vera, a judge for the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, wrote that the grocer tried to “weaponize the legal system” … Read more
Some new unions are facing an unforeseen hurdle as they try to bargain first contracts with big-name employers: getting sued for the names they’ve chosen. Starbucks is the latest company to file an intellectual property lawsuit against its employees’ union. The coffee chain claims that the group, Workers United, is “diluting” the Starbucks brand and … Read more
Prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board say Trader Joe’s illegally fired a union supporter in Massachusetts because he was pushing for better working conditions. In a complaint filed Tuesday, officials argued that the company should be forced to offer reinstatement and back pay to Stephen Andrade, a nearly 18-year Trader Joe’s veteran in Massachusetts. … Read more
Last year, the independent, fledgling union Trader Joe’s United accomplished what had never been done before: It formed the chain’s first unionized store, in Massachusetts, then its second, in Minnesota. Once the celebrations were over, workers got down to the less glamorous business of negotiating a first contract. But Trader Joe’s insisted everyone participate in … Read more
