Trader Joe's United
5,000 signatures reached
To: Trader Joe's CEO Bryan Palbaum
Tell Trader Joe's: Provide Proper Lactation Spaces for Your Workers!
In September 2023, a former Trader Joe’s crew member named Julia Hammer sued Trader Joe’s for pregnancy discrimination and retaliation, saying that the company failed to provide a proper space to pump while she was nursing.
The space Trader Joe’s did provide? A dusty mechanical room that also served as a space for everything from prayer to job interviews–meaning that Julia couldn’t even access this room sometimes when she needed to pump. Not only that, but the room didn’t lock from the inside, causing Julia to be walked in on by management while pumping.
To add insult to injury, Trader Joe’s kicked Julia off of her health insurance while she was a new mom, claiming that because of her maternity leave, she hadn’t worked enough hours to qualify for health care.
Why is this important?
Being a new parent, especially a nursing parent, is an incredibly vulnerable experience, both physically and emotionally. Workers in every industry deserve to be supported during this time. But at Trader Joe’s, that’s not happening.
Julia’s story is not unusual. We’ve heard from crew members across the country, in both union and non-union stores, with experiences just like Julia’s. Trader Joe’s workers are expected to pump in dusty mechanical rooms, storage attics that are only accessible by ladders, and demo kitchens where they must vie for access with workers preparing food samples for customers. (The images above are actual pumping spaces submitted to us by crew members). Some crew members give up on pumping indoors altogether and pump in their car instead, if they have one.
No nursing parent should have to pump in unsanitary, potentially exposed conditions like these. Sign our petition to tell Trader Joe’s to provide sanitary, secure, and comfortable lactation spaces for its workers!
