Whole Foods in Philadelphia, the Whole Foods markets voted on Monday to become the first trade store in the Amazon Food Chain and open a new front in the giant’s electronic trading giant to bounce for organizing work in several segments of their business.
Employees at the Whole Foods Store in Spring Garden in the city voted 130-100 in favor of United Food and Commercial Workers Union, said the National Council for Working Relations.
Warehouse staff said they had hoped the Union could help negotiate higher wages, above the current initial rate of $ 16 per hour, and better benefits. Some long -term employees who have been with Whole Foods since Amazon bought the chain in 2017 have stated that the reduction of the benefits of workers and the staffing levels, when Amazon took over, was a source of frustration.
But those who led the Union campaign indicated a wider goal: inspire a wave of organization across the chain and add to trade units between warehouse workers and delivery drivers that Amazon is already fighting.
“I expect others to follow, and this will increase the lever effect we have at the negotiating table,” said Ben Lovett, an employee at Philadelphia, who led the organization. “We showed them that it is possible to arrange in Amazon.”
A successful offer to create a Union comes in the background of what several workers described as a campaign of Whole Foods. They showed increased monitoring of employees and sending messages against Union in the store because workers were the public in the fall in the autumn.
Whole Foods said in a statement that the company is “disappointed” by the results of the elections, but that it offers competitive compensation and benefits for employees and that it is “determined to maintain a positive work environment” at Philadelphia.
“This struggle is far from over, but today’s victory is an important step forward,” said Wendell Young IV, UFCW President Local 1776, in his statement. “We are ready to bring Whole Foods to a negotiating table to negotiate a fair first contract that reflects the needs and priorities of workers.”
In unfair fees for work practice at the Labor Board at the beginning of this month UFCW Local 1776, which represents food and retail workers in Pennsylvania, accused Whole Foods of retaliation for retaliation for supporting Union Drive. The Union also accused the chain of exclusion of trade employees of receiving an increase that was provided this month to all its other Philadelphia workers.
Whole Foods said it met all legal requirements when communicating with employees on trade unions. The company rejected the accusation of retaliation and claimed that during the election process it could not legally change wages and delayed the increase after the elections to avoid the appearance of the attempt to influence voices.
“The Whole Foods is not a necessary Union,” the company said in its statement before the elections, adding that it recognizes the right of employees “make informed decisions.”
The vote in Philadelphia was the latest result in the efforts of organized Labour to support the support in Amazon vast operations.
In 2022, staff on Staten Island voted to create the first Amazon Union in the United States; He is now associated with the International Brotherhood of Team Teams. Amazon questioned the outcome of the elections in court and refused to recognize or negotiate with the Union. Driving drivers who work for companies of delivery of third -party packages that serve Amazon also have Campaign with teams.
Last week, Amazon said he’s closing it All of their warehouse and logistics operations in Quebec, the Canadian province, where trade unions gained support among some Amazon workers and would release 1700 employees.
Union Union in Amazon Trade in some respects resembles, Organization Union on Starbucks Since 2021, this has expanded to more than 500 stores in the United States, said Bristen Rogers, a professor of work law at Georgetown University.
In grocery stores and cafes, employees work side by side, day after day, in conditions that often contribute to mutual knowledge and create solidarity networks, he said. This dynamics do not always exist in warehouses where workers tend to be under constant supervision.
“I wouldn’t be shocked,” said Mr. Rogers, “if the snowball had the effect of Whole Foods, like Starbucks.”
Ed Dupree, who works in the Whole Foods Store in Philadelphia and was involved in the Union campaign, said he was in contact with workers in other places across the country who was interested in trade unions. He said that at least 10 other sites of Whole Foods began to organize.
The new political landscape in Washington can represent obstacles to Philadelphia workers by trying to negotiate a contract or for other trades that they could file for trade union elections. After the adoption of Biden Administration unions, President Trump is expected to appoint a new General Council of NLRB, whose approach can make it difficult to organize campaigns to success.
Employers usually use weaknesses in federal labor law to avoid the first contract with newly with trade unions, said Kate Andrias, professor of work and work law at Columbia University. The legal obstacles of the organization and negotiations exist regardless of the attitude of the government to work, although companies could feel more encouraged to intimidate workers under President Trump, she said.
“We will probably see that the law will become less favorable during Trump’s administration,” Andrias said. However, she added: “Even at a time when there were enemy working board in the past, workers were successful in the organization of the trade unions.”
