- Whole Foods workers in a Pennsylvania store voted to unionize on Monday.
- They will join a local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
- This is the first successful unionization push since Amazon acquired Whole Foods in 2017.
Workers at a Pennsylvania Whole Foods store voted to unionize on Monday, forming the first union at the grocery chain since Amazon acquired it in 2017.
Employees voted to join the local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents more than 800,000 grocery store workers across the US and Canada.
The union said 130 workers at the flagship store in Philadelphia’s Center City neighborhood voted in favor of union representation, while 100 voted against it.
“This fight is far from over, but today’s victory is an important step forward,” Wendell Young IV, the president of the local chapter of the union, said in a statement provided to several media outlets.
He added, “We are ready to bring Whole Foods to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair first contract that reflects the workers’ needs and priorities.”
National Labor Relations Board records show the workers filed to hold a union election in November 2024.
In a statement announcing the petition, workers at the Philadelphia store said they hoped unionization would help them achieve fair compensation and better working conditions.
In 2002, workers at a Whole Foods store in Madison, Wisconsin, voted in favor of a union, but it was dissolved the following year.
Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017.
In a statement provided to media outlets, Whole Foods said it was “disappointed” by the result but added that it was “committed to maintaining a positive working environment in our Philly Center City store.”
