HADLEY — A sufficient number of employees at the Trader Joe’s store in Hadley have signed onto a petition seeking to decertify the union formed two years ago, meaning the National Labor Relations Board will determine if a vote should be held on the future of what is known as Trader Joe’s United.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, this week issued a statement on behalf of Leslie Stratford, an employee at the Route 9 store, that the petition reached the 30% threshold that allows an appeal to be made to the NLRB’s Region 1 office in Boston. The store has 77 employees, though the exact number of those who signed the petition is not publicly disclosed.

The Hadley store became the first Trader Joe’s in the country to unionize, winning an election on July 28, 2022. That vote was 45-31 in favor, with 59% support. Since then, the union has become affiliated with the large Service Employees International Union.

“This is an effort led by the employees to decertify the union completely, meaning that if the NLRB holds a decertification vote and the employees vote in favor of decertification, the union will no longer have monopoly bargaining power over the workplace,” Jacob Comello,  media coordinator for National Right to Work, wrote in an email.

Comello added that it’s uncertain when the federal agency will make a decision, though it could be several weeks or longer depending on whether Trader Joe’s United attempts to stop the vote through legal actions.

Stratford has been critical of the union, issuing a statement charging that union officials “have sowed division and smeared both our workplace and anyone who dissents from the union’s agenda.”

“This isn’t what I believe the majority of my coworkers want or deserve, and despite the union’s pushback on this effort, we will fight to ensure that our colleagues can exercise their right to vote on whether we want to be represented by this union,” Stratford said.

Representatives for Trader Joe’s United didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, though the union leaders have said there is always a vocal minority against the union, which formed for better pay and workplace protections.

Since being created, the union 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. 

Last December, it received affirmative rulings from the NLRB, including that Trader Joe’s illegally terminated a long-term employee, allegedly for failing to remove a small power tool from the store’s premises when asked to do so by management, and retaliated against workers at two unionized stores by providing them a less favorable retirement benefit than at non-union stores.

Michael Alcorn, a crew member for almost 10 years, offered testimony in May to the Republican-led U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, calling the union’s formation neither positive nor a unifying experience. 

He called it a bad-faith union and alleged that union representation was imposed.

“Many of us were devastated when the union won. People who were against the union were harassed in the parking lot after the results were announced,” Alcorn said.

The anti-union National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation pushes to make union membership and dues paying voluntary. While this is in place in some states, Massachusetts doesn’t have these so-called “right to work” laws.

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