NYC’s Only Trader Joe’s Wine Shop May Potentially Reopen
New Yorkers were bummed after NYC’s only Trader Joe’s wine shop put a cork in it–literally–after abruptly shutting their doors permanently in August 2022. But New Yorkers may soon be able to buy their booze on a budget once again!
According to PIX11, a union-busting complaint filed against the company may reopen the Union Square wine shop after being closed for nearly a year and a half.
Though a sign posted on the storefront stated the closure was due to their decision to “explore another location that [would] allow [them] to optimize the potential of [their] one and only license to sell wine in the state of New York,” that may not actually be the case.
The complaint, filed by the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleges that Trader Joe’s closed the wine shop to prevent their workers from unionizing. Additionally, the complaint also claims Trader Joe’s illegally interrogated employees about their union activities and threatened to take away benefits if they unionized, says PIX11.
The complaint was filed on November 7, 2022, only three months after the wine shop closed. On January 12th of this year (2024) the NLRB general counsel stated that Trader Joe’s must “restore its operation of the Wine Shop as it existed” and reimburse employees for any wages they lost following the shop’s closing.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) stated:
With the NLRB’s complaint and notice of hearing, former Trader Joe’s wine shop crew members in New York are one step closer to getting the justice they deserve. These workers showed up every day, delivering the knowledge and service that Trader Joe’s is so famous for, only to wake up and find out that their store had been closed overnight.
Union Square’s Trader Joe’s Wine Shop stood as NYC’s only TJ’s Wine Shop for fifteen years, and we can only cross our fingers that we’ll soon be shopping for our booze on a budget once more!
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