ROYAL OAK — Workers rallied in the city as well as the Grosse Pointe and Ann Arbor locations calling for better treatment at a plant that supplies the grocer with produce. 

The Justice for Packing Workers Committee delivered letters to the management at Trader Joe’s locations in Grosse Pointe, Royal Oak, and Ann Arbor detailing the appalling treatment at the plant, including failure to pay workers their full wages, including one woman who was not paid for 200 hours of work; forcing injured workers to remain on the packing line, including one woman who was bleeding from her leg after being hit by a forklift; locking workers in the plant during a chemical spill, and then charging those who passed out from the fumes for their medical treatment; and constant verbal harassment and threats during work.

“Trader Joe’s has built a good business by marketing itself as a socially responsible company.  However, the treatment of the workers that actually pack Trader Joe’s tomatoes and peppers flies in the face of those values.  We hope that Trader Joe’s will do the right thing and make sure that the treatment of the workers who produce their food lives up to the company’s community-minded image,” said Priscila Martinez with the Alliance for Immigrants Rights – Michigan.

The current and former workers are demanding compensation for stolen wages and improvements in working conditions.  The group has filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court since the company has refused to make improvements or negotiate.  The plant, located in Livonia, is operated by Mastronardi Fruit Packing, one of North America’s largest packing and greenhouse companies.  The company packs produce that is sold under grocers’ own company labels as well as their own “Sunset” brand.