Whole Foods Workers File for First-Ever Union, Defying Amazon
Source: In These Times
Workers in Philadelphia say they’re tired of being treated like robots.
Kim Kelly November 22, 2024
With a rich history stretching back to 1682, Philadelphia boasts the nation’s first library, its first hospital, its first daily newspaper, even its first zoo. Now, a tenacious group of grocery store workers wants to earn the City of Brotherly Love another accomplishment: the nation’s first unionized Whole Foods Market.
On November 22, Whole Foods Workers United officially declared its intention to unionize with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 1776 and filed papers with the National Labor Relations Board.
Since Amazon bought the company in 2017, Whole Foods has undergone a litany of changes?—?many, workers say, for the worse. The checkout area is heavily surveilled to account for increased self-checkout (which in some stores includes a palm-scanning biometric option) and as demand for delivery orders has skyrocketed, so has the infrastructure to support it, including bringing in an army of delivery drivers and shoppers who compete with workers and regular customers for aisle space. Amazon has also attempted to integrate its own grocery brands into Whole Foods, and is debuting robot-run “mini warehouses” to encourage customers to buy more of its conventional products. Its thirst for profits and quest to dominate the grocery market has led the company to expand at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, workers struggle to keep up.
“The store operates chronically understaffed,” says Piper, who has worked as a customer service operator at Whole Foods for the past three years and asked that her last name be withheld for fear of employer retaliation. “I can only speak for my team specifically, but we’re exhausted from trying to meet these unrealistic productivity metrics, especially the Items Per Minute quota for cashiers. We’re told to ring as fast as possible to get customers in and out?—?as if we’re robots.”
Read more: https://inthesetimes.com/article/whole-foods-union-philadelphia
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They tried to steal all of our high-end shoppers and had some success. Luckily for us, baldy Bozos bought the company and immediately sent down word through his lackey, boot-lickers to hassle all of the long-time, well-paid workers. I heard so many stories. So many people shown the door. His "leadership" bought time for my company to adjust and modernize a bit. I'm going on 1 full-year of retirement and all I have to say is, "Thanks for the memories, Baldy Bozos" 
Or maybe DU is just a bit too advanced for those Union workers. 
$67.00 for the whole week. I got a free rotisserie chix because I used my points. Free eggs too. Soup should last days. I got black beans for some tortillas (use gloves when dicing jalapenos. Found that out the hard way. Ouch!). Got a lot of other specials. I've been in a Whole Foods 1 time to buy a WP back when it was respectable. Cheers 
We're dominated by Giant Eagle, Shop N Save, and to a smaller extent Kuhn's. The biggest threat to Giant Eagle are Aldi's and the grocery departments of Walmart and Target. I believe in the last year, Walmart has moved ahead of Giant Eagle in grocery sales.
I needed a money order. I went a bit crazy on the donuts because they just put them out and I hadn't had any in months. I never set foot in a WalFart. Untrustworthy bastards. Mean, nasty family. I hope they all inherit their dad's bone C. 
