A majority of workers at a Whole Foods location in Philadelphia have voted to unionize, as reported by Reuters. This makes the Pennsylvania store the first to unionize under Amazon’s ownership, and the second time overall.
Workers voted 130 to 100 for representation, according to the National Labor Relations Board, which translates to nearly 60 percent of workers choosing to unionize. Workers at this particular location filed to hold a union election back in November. A successful vote is just the beginning of this process, however, as a contract has yet to be ratified and accepted by both parties.
“We are ready to bring Whole Foods to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair first contract that reflects the workers’ needs and priorities,” Wendell Young IV, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, said in an email.
Coming as no surprise, Whole Foods expressed disappointment over the outcome of the vote. A company representative told Reuters that it already offers “competitive compensation, great benefits and career advancement opportunities.” Ahead of the vote, workers cited the need for better wages and benefits.
As previously noted, this is the first successful unionization bid for Whole Foods workers since Amazon bought the company in 2017 for nearly $14 billion. It’s not, however, the first time a Whole Foods location has voted to unionize. Workers in a Wisconsin location voted to unionize back in 2002, but the union was dissolved the following year.
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked at a Whole Foods location in 2005 and, one day, someone snuck in the store to hand out pro-unionization pamphlets. Management sent an armed guard around to collect the pamphlets from us. It was weird.
It’s no secret that Amazon isn’t exactly a friend to unions. Workers in Quebec unionized last year but, surprise, the company now says it’s closing the entire facility. Amazon is worth over $2.5 trillion dollars and has doubled in value throughout the past year or so.
