[Update as of Jan. 28, 2025] A majority of the employees at the Whole Foods flagship in Philadelphia’s Center City have voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1776, multiple sources report. According to UFCW, 130 workers voted in favor of the move and 100 against, making this the first Whole Foods store across the chain to unionize.
“We are ready to bring Whole Foods to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair first contract that reflects the workers’ needs and priorities,” said Local 1776 President Wendell Young IV in comments shared with CNN. Whole Foods said in a statement that it was “disappointed” by the results of the vote, but is “committed to maintaining a positive working environment in our Philly Center City store.”
Original story from Nov. 25, 2024 begins-
An “overwhelming majority” of workers at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a union election.
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A statement from the proposed union, UFCW Local 1776, said: “No one should have to beg for fair compensation and better working conditions while working for one of the most profitable organic grocers in the world! Despite generating $93.8 billion in gross profits in 2023, Whole Foods Market refuses to pay their workers a living wage. As Jason Buechel, Jeff Bezos and other major Amazon shareholders’ pockets grow deeper, team members struggle to afford rent, healthcare, childcare and other basic necessities.”
The union statement added that working at a Whole Foods is physically demanding, and that “the speed with which we are pushed to work increases every day. It is becoming impossible to balance our health, our safety and our desire to satisfy and delight our customers with the company’s thirst for profits.”
Unions Gain Toehold in Retail
A Whole Foods statement released to Supermarket News gave qualified support to the unionization effort: “Whole Foods Market recognizes the rights of our team members to make an informed decision on whether union representation is right for them. We agree with the overwhelming majority of our team members who value our open door policy and our ability to quickly respond to the needs of our workforce.”
Unionization efforts in retail have been growing, albeit slowly, over the past several years, strengthened by the tight labor market that was one result of the COVID pandemic. Whole Foods parent company Amazon has been staunchly anti-union, particularly in its distribution centers. Nevertheless, New York City members of the Amazon Labor Union voted in June 2024 to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union.
Unionized Costco workers in Virginia Beach, Va. authorized a strike in July 2024, while unionized Apple store workers in Towson, Md. won a 10% pay increase that same month. In September 2024, new Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol responded to a welcome letter from the Starbucks Workers United union that he “deeply respect(ed) the right of partners to choose, through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union.”
