PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Workers at the Spring Garden Whole Foods Market have voted to join a union, becoming the first store in the chain to organize.
“It makes me so excited. I’m so excited to be honest,” said Khy Adams, a member of the ad hoc group of employees who, in November, requested a union election. She says the company brought in a new management team last month that campaigned against unionizing.
Adams says she’s happy a majority of her co-workers resisted the pressure.
Employees say store management had been posting anti-union materials and calling employees into meetings to try to dissuade them from voting yes.
“There were a lot of people who were on the fence that we couldn’t get a read on but people showed up. They were enthusiastic and ready to vote,” she said. The vote came in 130 to 100 Monday night.
Whole Foods emailed a statement saying they’re disappointed in the outcome of the election but are committed to maintaining a positive work environment at the store.
The workers will be represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers.
The store is one of the first Amazon properties in the United States to organize. Amazon's one unionized facility still doesn’t have a contract, two years after organizing.
"This is just like the first hurdle of the marathon. This is not the finish line. I know it’s going to be a fight. I know it’s going to be a battle but we have chosen this path so now we have to shape what that actually looks like," Adams said.
Adams says the union hopes to raise wages and improve benefits.