Trader Joe's says it will reopen Seattle location near 'CHOP' zone after remodel
An employee group says store closure was 'retaliation' for BLM attendance
A Trader Joe's near the "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" zone in Seattle that closed "indefinitely" last week now has a reopening date, although a group of employees says they won't be satisfied "until corporate is transparent and agrees to hear us in full."
'TAX AMAZON' BACK ON THE AGENDA IN SEATTLE
Some workers won't commit to returning to the store after mass employee attendance of a Black Lives Matter protest created a staffing shortage. Trader Joe's corporate reacted to Friday's closure unfairly by closing the store over the weekend without communicating with staff, Peter Strand, the employee group's spokesperson, told FOX Business.
"We need TJ’s corporate to communicate with us directly. We need to see them taking tangible action in support of the movement for black lives. We need them to put their money where their mouth is," said Strand, who said he has worked at the location for about a year.
The store will reopen in a week or two after a remodel, and employees will be paid for scheduled shifts, a Trader Joe's spokesperson told KING-TV on Monday, but the employee group says the need for a remodel is news to them.
"We are not going to overlook the major breach of trust from this past Friday," Trader Joe's Store 130 employees said in a statement. "We want to keep our jobs, but we don't feel like we can go back to the store without addressing long-standing issues."
The employee group claims a Trader Joe's corporate representative said Friday the store would be closed indefinitely, something the employees classified as "retaliation" in a petition demanding that Trader Joe's "restore our jobs immediately."
A protester holds a sign that reads "Stop Killing Us" during a "Silent March" against racial inequality and police brutality that was organized by Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County, Friday, June 12, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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"As far as we knew on Thursday, many of us would be coming back on Saturday," Strand said. "We were left completely in the dark for 72 hours. For that entire time we had no idea whether the store would be reopening."
FOX Business' inquiries to Trader Joe's was not immediately returned.