Do unions improve quality of life for workers? If you track that improvement in terms of better working hours, greater equality, and safer working conditions, the answer is a resounding yes. History shows that unionizing has been an effective tool for articulating the working class demand for democracy in the workplace, and, as Frederick Douglass famously said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Unions deliver that demand.

What makes the argument all the more compelling is that union benefits can be measured even before the union itself has materialized in full form. Case in point, the Hadley, Massachusetts workforce of Trader Joe’s joined a national union trend by organizing as Trader Joe’s United.

With the Hadley crew leading the charge, other locations are joining up, including the workforce of a Trader Joe’s location in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In fact, the Minneapolis workers have successfully petitioned to hold a union vote and will make their voice heard, yay or nay, on August 11 and 12.

We can never know for sure what secret thoughts stir in the minds of Trader Joe’s executives. But we can read and respond to corporate policy and press releases. TJ leadership made it be known in the run-up to the Hadley union vote that the company was sweetening its compensation and benefits package to employees. Now, read this how you will, either as a random coincidence or a corporate leadership betting that it has more to lose with a strong union than by offering a few non-guaranteed benefits up front and squashing the momentum of Trader Joe’s United. We know how the union reads it.

If unions can score gains for workers before they are even officially recognized, we should be optimistic about the power of unions to maintain those gains against the whims of capricious executive leadership. In the national unionizing trend it remains the Big Strategy to divide their workers and sow doubt in their minds about their ability to organize. A sweet offering today, shared out of the benevolent instincts of our dear corporate leaders, is one way they treat us like rats seeking out a little morsel to take back to our separate holes instead of organizing. In truth, unions are nothing but that spirit of unity and organizing that can make the many powerful, if only the many find the courage to come together to express their demands. And power concedes nothing without a demand.

Words to think on as Minnneapolis heads toward its vote on August 11 and 12. When we fight, we win.

Say hi to Trader Joe’s United on Twitter.

Visit Trader Joe’s United at their website.