Employees are urging the company to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Trader Joe’s is the latest company to face backlash for its response to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Employees criticized the company for its policy against Black Lives Matter pins, masks and clothing and its overall response to the movement.
On at least two confirmed occasions, employees were told they could not wear items that said “Black Lives Matter.” One of those incidents resulted in the employee being sent home for wearing a BLM mask.
A New York City-based Trader Joe’s crew member, who asked not to be identified, told The North Star that he was asked during a June 10 encounter with management to not wear a BLM mask at work. He said he wore the mask following an incident with a California-based crew member who was sent home after wearing a BLM mask.
“[I was] fully prepared for it to be a conversation,” the crew member said. “I wasn’t expecting it to be a problem. But I knew I was going to wear it. I wasn’t naive. I was already prepared for how I was going to justify wearing it because it was only a matter of time [before management said something.]”
Read more on The North Star.
Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash.