Philly Whole Foods workers win union election

Workers at the Whole Foods Market near the Art Museum in Philadelphia made history on Jan. 27 when their store became the first unionized Whole Foods in the U.S. The Whole Foods union is part of the United Food and Commercial Workers, which has over 1 million members in the U.S. and Canada. 

Whole Foods is owned by Amazon. Whole Foods workers are subject to the same dehumanizing surveillance and quota systems as warehouse workers. They must account for every move they make while on the job. Personal shoppers are held to demanding productivity standards that force them to maintain a pace that leaves them prone to injury and mental stress.

Cashiers state that they have to work at such a rapid pace they have little time to engage with customers, making the workers feel like robots — all while standing their entire shift. Items scanned per minute are tracked, and the quota expected is exceedingly high. Whole Foods workers can’t even afford to shop there because of the low wages they receive for their labor. This reality is not the corporate image of a worker-friendly environment that Whole Foods would like people to believe. 

Warehouse workers at Amazon have been at the forefront of the revitalization of the labor movement. In 2021, Chris Smalls successfully led workers in forming the Amazon Labor Union at the JFK8 Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York. The ALU won a union recognition election on April 1, 2022. The ALU won another victory when the National Labor Relations Board ruled against Amazon in the company’s multiple union-busting legal filings. 

Both Amazon and Whole Foods are notorious union busters. Whole Foods corporation has already filed an objection with the NLRB to the election results. Whole Foods workers will face an NLRB that has been hogtied by the Trump administration’s attack on organized labor. With Trump’s firing of two NLRB members, the board doesn’t have a quorum that might tend to enforce Whole Foods’ legal obligation to begin bargaining negotiations. 

This is the stark reality of a class war between the billionaire oligarchy and the working masses. Labor organizers must use all the tactics in their toolbox to go on the offensive to finally squash the ruling class and bring about a just society where workers own the means of production. 

Philadelphia Whole Foods workers are committed to the struggle ahead.