Here Are Some Reasons Whole Foods Workers Might Want a Union

[Omaha Steve]

http://gawker.com/here-are-some-reasons-whole-foods-workers-might-want-a-1657390684

Hamilton Nolan

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Whole Foods, a company that has lately been beloved by yuppies, the middle class, and Wall Street alike, is facing demands for a union. But Whole Foods hates unions! How much? An insider tells us more.


Whole Foods Employees Ask For a Union
Whole Foods has had a pretty bad year. Its stock cratered in 2014, as lower-cost competitors…
Read more: http://gawker.com/whole-foods-employees-ask-for-a-union-1655959545


Whole Foods is run by John Mackey, an infamously vain libertarian CEO who has said his company is "beyond unions," and compared unions to herpes. After our story last week on the employees of a San Francisco Whole Foods organizing to ask for higher wages and a union, we heard from a number of current Whole Foods workers. Some especially relevant information came from a veteran Whole Foods employee in Massachusetts, who recently left the company after she became fed up with the way that it treated its employees. She told us, "I have hired several people over this past year for my department and team, and part of the process now is after a [Team Leader] interviews and wants to hire a person the STL or Assistant STL must then meet the person to explain how [Whole Foods Market] is a 'non union" company. During orientation processes, it is beat over and over how 'non union' we are, which is infuriating because if we had been [unionized] then at least 100 full time positions could have been saved in my region alone."

She speculated that the newfound fervor for a union could be one result of shifts in the company's practices months ago, when some full time employees were knocked down to part-timers in order to help placate Wall Street. (And it worked—since August, the company's stock has risen by more than 25%).

Understanding there is an emphasis on the organization of a union at whole foods, which is in my guess is mostly a result of how abrupt various positions have been changing over the past year. The coworkers who were directly affected in my store and throughout the North Atlantic region were instructed to partake in a conference call regardless of whether they were working or off that day. On that conference call those team members were told that in the new fiscal year (this call took place in August and the new FY started September 29, 2014) their positions would no longer be full time and it was ultimately their responsibility to find hours they wanted to keep their full time status. Part Time team members technically can have health coverage, but the cost at part time was something $90/wk last time I check the pricing and PT are not eligible for company provided PWA funds but still required to pay the same deductible.

FULL story at link.