Workers at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia voted on Monday to become the first unionized store in Amazon’s grocery chain, opening a new front in the e-commerce giant’s efforts to fend off labor organizing in multiple segments of its business.
Employees at the sprawling Whole Foods store, in the city’s Spring Garden neighborhood, voted 130 to 100 in favor of organizing with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, the National Labor Relations Board said.
Store employees said they hoped a union could help negotiate higher wages, above the current starting rate of $16 an hour, and better benefits. Some longtime employees, who have been with Whole Foods since well before Amazon bought the chain in 2017, said reductions in benefits and cuts in staffing levels when Amazon took over, among other changes, had been sources of frustration.
But those leading the union campaign hinted at a broader goal: to inspire a wave of organizing across the chain’s more than 500 grocery stores, adding to union drives among warehouse workers and delivery drivers that Amazon is already combating.
Whole Foods workers in Philadelphia vote to unionize, a first for the Amazon-owned grocery chain
Workers at the Whole Foods in Spring Garden have voted to unionize, becoming the first store in the company to do so.
The store will have 300 union employees, and 230 of them voted in the election Monday, said Wendell Young IV, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 1776, with 130 in favor of unionizing.
The National Labor Relations Board now has to certify the election, a process which takes about three weeks, Young said.
“This fight is far from over, but today’s victory is an important step forward,” Young said. “We are ready to bring Whole Foods to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair first contract that reflects the workers’ needs and priorities.”
A spokesperson for Whole Foods said in a statement that the company “is proud to offer competitive compensation, great benefits, and career advancement opportunities to all team members. We are disappointed by the outcome of this election, but we are committed to maintaining a positive working environment in our Philly Center City store.”
