Trader Joe's United
25 signatures reached
To: Trader Joe's CEO Bryan Palbaum
Tell Trader Joe's: Reinstate Millie Lugo at Essex Crossing!
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On August 30th 2025, beloved crew member Millie Lugo was fired at the Essex Crossing Trader Joe’s in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Ever since she began exercising her protected right to discuss her working conditions with others, she has found herself under increased scrutiny, which culminated in this retaliatory firing.
To be clear, the reason for her targeting has been explicitly stated by the company itself, with a write up being given because Millie “expressed dissatisfaction with the leadership team.” Millie was simply voicing frustration with workplace issues in the backroom and yet management chose to punish her in retaliation. Suddenly her attendance was a problem as well, then she was denied her raise. Trader Joe’s United immediately filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge in response to management’s clear Section 7 violation under the NLRA.
After the ULP charge, such discipline was meted out with an unprofessional level of cruelty and hostility, with Millie being told, “nobody likes her” and that she'd eventually “crash and burn.” Yet Millie is the one accused of being aggressive. The behavior she has endured is not only unprofessional, it’s bullying.
This type of conduct will not stand; we demand that Trader Joe’s immediately:
- Reinstate Millie Lugo at Essex Crossing.
- Cease all unlawful retaliation against the crew at Essex Crossing
- Work with the crew members to ensure workers like Millie, and Jamie aren’t unfairly targeted for making their voices heard.
Why is this important?
Millie Lugo isn’t alone; her experience is representative of a larger trend at Trader Joe’s. Workers are losing their jobs with at an increased rate, through a disciplinary system that is neither transparent nor consistently applied. On May Day of 2025, founding Union president Jamie Edwards was fired in their Massachusetts Trader Joe’s after facing relentless retaliatory targeting by management. That was not an accident, it was a warning.
Discussing workplace issues are clearly protected activities under the NLRA, no worker deserves to face repercussions for simply voicing concerns in the workplace. Workers need to stand together against unfairness, targeting and bullying we see at Essex Crossing and beyond.
Discussing workplace issues are clearly protected activities under the NLRA, no worker deserves to face repercussions for simply voicing concerns in the workplace. Workers need to stand together against unfairness, targeting and bullying we see at Essex Crossing and beyond.
