Workers at Whole Foods' flagship grocery store in Center City have voted to unionize, becoming the first in the United States to do so since Amazon bought the chain in 2017, labor organizers said.
A majority of employees at the Whole Foods at 2101 Pennsylvania Ave. voted Monday night to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents about 35,000 workers at supermarkets primarily in Pennsylvania. The union said about 130 Whole Foods employees voted in favor of joining and 100 voted against the move. Results of the vote must still be certified by the National Labor Relations Board.
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"We are incredibly proud of the Whole Foods workers who have stood up to Amazon's union-busting tactics and demonstrated the strength of solidarity," UFCW Local 1776 President Wendell Young IV said in a statement. "This fight is far from over, but today's victory is an important step forward."
The Whole Foods workers are seeking higher wages, more benefits and improved store safety and workplace support measures.
In a statement provided to CNN, Whole Foods said it is "disappointed" in the workers' vote to unionize but will remain "committed to maintaining a positive work environment."
UFCW claimed Whole Foods engaged in a "relentless onslaught of anti-union propaganda" to discourage workers from unionizing.
More than two decades ago, workers at a Whole Foods in Madison, Wisconsin formed a union that dissolved about a year later, the Wall Street Journal reported. The grocery store chain was founded in 1980.
Before Amazon acquired Whole Foods, the company was publicly traded and operated with more employee-friendly policies, the union said. Amazon's $13.7 billion acquisition took the grocery store chain private and implemented new policies affecting attendance, pay, health plans and benefits coverage for part-time workers.
Amazon has faced criticism for its response to a broader unionization push among delivery drivers and workers at its warehouses. Workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2022, but Amazon has refused to bargain with the union amid court challenges. Amazon delivery drivers, who work for third-party companies, also have pushed to join the Teamsters in recent years.
Ahead of Monday's vote, UFCW Local 1776 had filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Whole Foods retaliated against workers at the Center City store, the New York Times reported.
Whole Foods has another Center City store at Ninth and South streets and multiple locations in the Philly suburbs.