Earlier this month, what appeared to be raw sewage seeped down from the ceiling of a Trader Joe’s on the Lower East Side. Workers say the ensuing confusion underscores their need to form a union, which would be the city's first unionized Trader Joe’s.
Donate NowOn a Friday earlier this month, what appeared to be raw sewage seeped down from the ceiling of the Essex Crossing Trader Joe’s store on the Lower East Side, breaking through parts of the ceiling and dribbling down onto some of the food below.
Managers shut down the store temporarily. But workers said the situation caused hours of confusion — some risked exposure to the sewage as they helped throw out the spoiled items, while others were sent home early or told not to show up at all, but later found their pay had been docked. For some of the store’s employees, the situation underscored their need to form a union to be able to ask questions and demand answers about pressing workplace concerns in a unified way.
“There seemed to be no procedures from corporate on how to deal with these kinds of issues in the workplace,” said Bridget Arend, 25, who’s worked at the location for the last four years. “There are still holes in the ceiling. It still smells like sewage. This is the kind of safety concern that happens frequently at our store.”
On Wednesday morning workers plan to submit a petition to the National Labor Relations Board, and make their request for a union official, according to several organizers involved in the campaign. The NLRB typically reviews and verifies petitions and then sets an election date within several weeks. A spokesperson for Trader Joe’s didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the union drive, or the ceiling leak.
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