Massachusetts Trader Joe's becomes first store to unionize

Trader Joe's workers in Hadley, Massachusetts, on Thursday voted to unionize, becoming the first of the supermarket's stores to do so.

The big picture: The vote comes as employees at a number of major retailers, including Starbucks and Amazon, have voted to form unions in recent months.

Driving the news: The employees of the Hadley store voted 45-31 in support of unionization, according to The Washington Post.

• Two other Trader Joe's — one in Minneapolis, Minnesota and one in Boulder, Colorado — have also filed for union elections, The Post reported.
• The store in Minneapolis will hold its election the second week in August, per the Post.

What they're saying: "This victory is historic, but not a surprise," Trader Joe's United wrote Thursday in a tweet. "Since the moment we announced our campaign, a majority of the crew have enthusiastically supported our union, and despite the company's best efforts to bust us, our majority has never wavered."

• "We are incredibly proud of the work we have done together to win this union election, but winning is just the beginning," they added. "We now begin the difficult work of sitting down at the negotiating table as equals with our employer, and securing a contract that will benefit and protect us, the crew, instead of the company's bottom line."

There are more than 530 Trader Joe’s locations in the country, per CNBC.

Go deeper: Amazon workers' union victory is turbocharging a new labor movement