Stand with Jamie Edwards, Union Leader Fired By Trader Joe's

Jamie Edwards was fired from Trader Joe’s on May 1, 2025, and is in urgent need of funds to cover their basic living expenses while they seek reinstatement.

Jamie worked at the Trader Joe’s in Hadley, MA for over ten years. In 2022, the Hadley Trader Joe’s became the first unionized Trader Joe’s in the nation, in large part due to Jamie’s organizing. They were an integral part of Hadley’s organizing committee, and went on to serve as Hadley’s local president and Trader Joe’s United’s national president.

Jamie is a dedicated advocate for their coworkers, both as a union officer and bargaining spokesperson, and as a coworker on the sales floor. They are never afraid to speak up on someone else’s behalf in order to right a wrong, or urge management to follow the law. They work hard and are well-loved by their coworkers.

However, Jamie’s outspokenness and openness as a union organizer brought on scrutiny and retaliation from management. Since the announcement of Hadley’s union drive, Trader Joe’s targeted Jamie in a number of ways: sending them home from a shift because they were wearing a union pin, giving them failing marks on their performance reviews for two years straight, and even writing them up for fabricated acts of aggression. The union filed unfair labor practice charges for all of those incidents, but the charges have yet to be resolved.

On May 1 (May Day!) Trader Joe’s fired Jamie. Jamie had recently stepped down from their position as national president, and it seems Trader Joe’s thought this was the moment they could terminate a highly visible union organizer without repercussions.

Of course, they were wrong. The union is filing unfair labor practice charges against Trader Joe’s in response to Jamie’s termination. But that process takes time, and Jamie needs funds to cover basic living expenses right now while they seek new employment and fight for reinstatement.

Stand with Jamie by making a contribution to their GoFundMe. Every donation helps!