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TechnoratiCalling Out Whole Foods: Whole Foods Quietly Cutting Employee Free Choice
While Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently publicly inflamed the health
care debate, behind the scenes Whole Foods has been quietly dismantling
a key piece of legislation that would make it easier for workers who
want to form a union to do so.
Whole Foods and Starbucks are backing a “compromise” to strip the
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) of a key provision. The so-called
“card-check” provision would require employers to recognize its
employees’ union once a majority has signed union authorization cards.
Currently, employers often refuse to recognize new unions even if all
their employees have signed up. New contracts often take years to
negotiate, meanwhile workers are frequently subject to harassment and
sometimes fired. The card-check provision is so central to this
legislation, it has been called “the card-check bill.”
Food industry giants from WalMart, to meatpacking titans
Smithfield, and Hormel, to McDonalds have sent out an army of lobbyists
to fight the pro-union bill. WalMart has spent $10.5 million in federal
PAC spending since 2000, plus contributions to other corporate front
groups lobbying against the bill.
However, unlike out-and-out opponents of the legislation, Starbucks
and Whole Foods have built labor friendly images by supporting
fair-trade and offering better wages than some other chains, despite
being aggressively anti-union. Now it appears the retailers are cashing
in on that image to modify the EFCA and remain, as Mackey says, “100%
union-free.”
The hypocrisy is not lost on Whole Foods’ employees - one states,
people need “to know just how false their [Whole Foods’] 'socially
responsible' image is, especially with regards to their own workers.”
This summer Whole Foods employees are voting on their new health
benefits package – the “choices” amount to a significant cut from the
previous years’ packages. Reflecting employee discontent, a recent
press release comments “It takes a truly unique culture to persuade
people that submission is empowerment.” They go on to allude to the
need for unions to confront these cuts, saying that without “a method
for organized, collective action workers can expect this promise from
their employer, 'Whole Food Market reserves the right to change, revise
or eliminate any of the policies and/or benefits at any time.'”
Several workers at a San Francisco Whole Foods store were fired
this spring for incidents employees claim were related to their
organizing efforts. An un-compromised Employee Free Choice Act would
prevent that kind of retaliatory activity and provide the “method” to
preserve health benefits that employees seek – but not if Whole Foods
and other food giants strip the bill of it's teeth.
Though reporters have discussed the EFCA compromise as if it is a
done-deal, AFL-CIO union leader Candace Lund reminds us, “reports of
the death of card-check have been prematurely exaggerated . . . We
don’t have a compromise, just an article [referencing one NY Times
story].”
Lund’s support of the “card-check” provision is just one way unions
are seeking better conditions for workers. Within the food system,
organized labor has played a significant role in job quality. Research
by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research indicates that unionized
workers in the retail food industry make 31 percent more than their
non-union counterparts. The premium is even higher for part-timers (33
percent), non-supervisory workers (45 percent), and cashiers (52
percent). Union members are also more than twice as likely get part or
all of their health insurance premiums paid through their job.
Yet, unionization rates have fallen from their post World War II
peak of 35%, to 26% in 1975 and today only 12% of all workers and 8% of
private sector workers are unionized. This drop in union representation
has come with a significant drop in wages. For example, supermarket
workers’ real average earnings fell by 31% between 1978 and1996.
Similarly, wages in the meatpacking sector have declined in real terms
by 45% since the 1980's.
The fact that food industry giants have come out in force against
the bill is indicative of something larger. Falling wages and health
care coverage are trends that are recurring throughout the food system
and public policy underwrites the decline - through selective
enforcement of labor and anti-trust laws, but also through state
welfare programs. As the food industry has become increasingly
concentrated over the past two decades– cost-cutting measures have
disproportionately shifted to workers whose poverty line wages are
often supplemented by Medicaid, food stamps, child nutrition programs,
direct government payments, and other government services.
The total estimated cost of state and federal payouts for Burger
King employees alone is over $273 million a year. Multiply $273 million
over all major fast food and low-wage retail food outlets, and the
government is shelling out billions of dollars a year to subsidize the
industry’s bottom line. According to research done by the AFL-CIO, in
the company’s home state of Arkansas, Wal-Mart employees are the
largest group of Medicaid recipients from any one company, accounting
for 40% of the total state Medicaid budget.
One way to reverse this trend would be to make food sector jobs
good jobs - by making it easier for workers who want to form a union to
do so. This is why an intact Employee Free Choice Act (with majority
sign-up) is crucial.
Whole Food's John Mackey is no fool – while he may have galvanized
supporters of health care reform by speaking up, on the issue that will
eat into his company's profit margin, he remains silently, yet
powerfully active.
22 Comments so far
Show AllIm an employee at whole foods market.
The article seems a bit biased in my opinion,
I just want to know how, by letting us choose the way we want our benefits to change, is whole foods market quietly cutting employee free choice.
My wages started at almost 3 dollars higher per hour then a comparable position at a unionized grocery store.And after working for ONLY 6 months my benefits are 100% employer payed(minus deductables), and I dont have to pay a single union due. I also recieve a 20% discount on EVERYTHING in the store. What namebrand grocery chain does that?
When i first started at whole foods they told us a story about the only whole foods to go union, over issues with upper management. The first thing out of the unions mouth was how much money they were going to get. Not how to address the employess problems or any of their needs and wants. Needless to say, after the one year was up, that store was once again non-union.
As a former employee of WalMart I am OUTRAGED by this unscrupulous maneuver from Jack Mackey (someone I admire SO MUCH), and disgusted by the myopic ranting of the Whole Foods employees who are defending him.
Take this statement: "My wages started at almost $3 higher per hour than a comparable position at a unionized grocery store."
Are you listening to yourself????????
You're ADMITTING, as we ALL ADMIT, that Whole Foods is in A CLASS BY ITSELF. Whole Foods is a MORAL EXEMPLAR in its treatment of employees next to the Un-unionized AND Unionized BEHEMOTHS of the food retail industry.
You ALSO ADMIT that EVEN WITH the card-check provision in place, Whole Foods was able to quell an employee "uprising" without any major incident, and return to healthy, non-union, stability within a year.
This is all because Whole Foods BEGAN with a commitment to community, and with a keen sense of social responsibility. But I'm not sure if Whole Food employees understand JUST HOW EFFING LUCKY THEY ARE to be working for such a person.
Are you catching my drift yet???
NO? Then let me put it this way:
The Card-Check Provision WAS NEVER MEANT for companies like Whole Foods, who - FROM THE BEGINNING - were committed to putting PEOPLE FIRST, and who obviously have NO PROBLEM handling worker disputes even with the Card Check provision in place.
Wal-Mart employees ARE NOT WHOLE FOOD EMPLOYEES. Whole Foods employees may not have any complaints about THEIR PRECIOUS COMPANY, but Wal-Mart is one of the most morally bankrupt and downright ABUSIVE employers on the planet.
Maybe it would help if I translated this into "Libertarian-speak": The Card-Check Provision is to private enterprise what THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS to the Goverment: it's a way TO PROTECT and ENSURE the right of the people to challenge OPPRESSION within the system they belong to!
Whole Foods CEO and Company: SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to tell OTHER PEOPLE that they cannot Unionize against THEIR OWN EMPLOYERS, especially when those employers are your competition, and when that competition consistently spits in the face of everything that Whole Foods stands for.
For me, it's just another disappointment and disillusionment from the Libertarian movement. It seems so promising, and then the one person you think ACTUALLY BELIEVES in fair treatment of employees goes up to bat FOR WAL-MART. UNBELIEVABLE.
It proves to me, once more, and maybe once and for all, that Libertarians are NOT the Humanitarians they pretend to be. In the eyes of John Mackey, the worker who takes a job at Wal-Mart is considered HUMAN CAPITAL before he is ever a HUMAN BEING. Free Market Capitalism WINS in the eyes of John Mackey just because he's got his ducks in a row - nevermind that he's practically THE ONLY ONE in his industry that bothers with ethics.
Just FORGET about everybody else's right to unionize in the face of corrupt crony-capitalist business schemes - because WHOLE FOODS MARKET is the Center of the Universe!
If John Mackey actually believed in half the things he talked about on his blog, he would STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST companies like WAL MART, and FIGHT TO KEEP THE CARD-CHECK PROVISION IN PLACE, on behalf of the people who AREN'T lucky enough to work for a CEO who actually gives a flying flip about his workers.
"I just want to know how, by letting us choose the way we want our benefits to change, is whole foods market quietly cutting employee free choice."
Whole Foods Market is quietly cutting the free choice of employees who are treated like maneur BY THEIR OWN EMPLOYERS. The ethics of John Mackey's business model IS FRESH AIR THAT MOST LABORERS ACROSS AMERICA HAVE NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO BREATHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not ALL EMPLOYEES in the country are WHOLE FOODS EMPLOYEES. And ONE FAILED ATTEMPT at unionization, from a small group of people, FROM ONE STORE, DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE MORAL RIGHT to silence EVVVVVVVEEERYBODY ELSE, and especially the THOUSANDS who work for the second-largest employer in the nation (next to the federal government).
Just another shameless expression of the self-centeredness of the Libertarian crowd.
So much for the "Love" revolution...
Unions are a weak step for workers. They have the same effect of profit sharing. Creating a happy core of workers who identify with the suits and sell the outer belt workers short.
The best solution is simply to tax outsourcing and try to limit the influence of big money investment. Investors want big returns fast and that is what has hurt the worker most.
On August 6th, six days before his now infamous op-ed piece appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Whole Foods CEO John P. Mackey sold 50,000 shares of WFMI stock worth $1.4 million. On the same day, Whole Foods Co-President and COO Walter E Robb IV sold 8,333 shares.
In light of this, a couple of questions arise: could the reason for the sale be that Mackey actually expected a backlash? Could n light of this, a couple of questions arise: could the reason for the sale be that Mackey actually expected a backlash? Could Mackey's op-ed simply be a scheme to induce a WFMI stock plunge as a result of a predictable backlash from its progressive customer base so that he could buy stock at a lower price later on?
So far the strategy doesn't seem to be working: WFMI stock has actually risen since Mackey sold it, but it's also too early to tell. The boycott is still in its initial phases and given all the coverage that it's receiving it could pick up steam over time.
Speculations aside, such a conspicuous sale right before Mackey's predictably backfiring statement is something that should be looked into by the Board of Directors and shareholders. If if turns out that Mackey manufactured the entire controversy for personal gain, and at the expense of the company's shareholders, it would be enough grounds for the CEO's dismissal.
John Makey is not new to this kind of antics either. In 2007, the New York Times reported that for seven years, Mackey had an online alter ego which he used to relentlessly promote the company’s stock as well as to attack competitor Wild Oats Markets in order to lower its stock price prior to acquiring the firm.
http://prickly-pears.blogspot.com/
By the way, Henry8, if someone is paying you to say this stuff, they aren't getting their money's worth.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Henry8, your reasoned, logical, well thought out rebuttal convinced me. But, you left out the part about 40% of Arkansas Medicaid clients being Wal-Mart employees. Could you go over that part again, please?
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
What a BS article.
How so?
Sigh, Henry8 is being mean to labor unions AGAIN. One minute, he has a heart for health care for all. The next minute, he is heartless against labor unions. Yes, labor unions are not what they used to be but EFCA can correct that so that eventually labor unions can return to taking pride of quality labor rather than being forced to worry about wages. Again, EFCA is the path to putting quality over quantity when it comes to labor. I shop at Whole Foods too but if they're doing something wrong and engaging on the wrong side of politics just to expect their bottom line to boost, we have a moral obligation to expose this kind of behavior and I thank the author for it.
Republican and other outspoken opponents of medical reform want to wipe out Medicare, Medicaid and even increase what people pay for limited medical insurance.
They want to destroy any reasonable form of affordable medical insurance and provide even greater long-term profits for insurance companies.
They’re not worried about end-of-life care; they’re worried about profits. And they know that with no real reform, Medicare, Medicaid and low-cost medical insurance will be financially wiped out within the next generation.
we already pay for national health care
we are just not receiving it
how much will national health care cost us????
NOTHING.......ZERO......ZIP
in fact it will save us
RIGHT NOW
OUR GOVERNMENT spends $3300.00 dollars per person per year on health care.........then the rest of us pay thousands more
in ENGLAND where they have national health care....their GOVERNMENT spends $2900.00 per person on healthcare
and THEY have universal coverage
so we ALREADY pay for UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE..... we just are not receiving it.....
why not???
"According to research done by the AFL-CIO, in the company’s home state of Arkansas, Wal-Mart employees are the largest group of Medicaid recipients from any one company, accounting for 40% of the total state Medicaid budget."
"lowest prices"... "always"... BULLSHIT.
every dollar then... spent at walmart... costs taxpayers... money from schools... infrastructure... and... oh yea... we "can't AFFORD" universal healthcare... we "HAVE to reign in" costs for the ballooning medicare and medicaid programs...
EACH of the remaining 4 or 5 walmart heirs has a personal fortune in EXCESS of $50BILLION...
i've never bought anything at a walmart... and never will...
and where ever i can redirect a purchase to local businesses away from corporatists... i do...
in the end... that's the only vote that'll count... dollars...
i happen to personally know someone who after daddy paid for dental school decided he had to work too many hours... and whined until daddy let him in the family business... running a string of burger kings... well daddy's gone and the franchises were sold... so what does he do with his life... he's obsessing over the rain coming sunday when he has the neighbors over and the window washer comes out saturday... wonders if he can get the window washer in on sunday... or he'll hose them down... gosh forbid... the rain will dirty up the windows before the guets arrive... he pays someone to manage his money almost as much as the median salary in this country...
EXACTLY!!
When are people going to WAKE UP in this country.
WalMart nets 12 BILLION dollars in PROFITS every year, yet EACH SUPERCENTER store (aside from destroying communities and enslaving China) is responsible for $420,750 A YEAR in government welfare (that's not just medicaid, that's cash assistance, FOOD STAMPS, etc.) As of July 2009 there are 2,630 SUPERCENTERS in the U.S. Do the math people:
2,630 stores x $420,750 per year = $1,106,572,500 (1.1 BILLION) OF OUR TAX MONEY SPENT ON WAL MART EVERY YEAR
How can Americans EXCUSE a company that nets 12 Billion leeching another 1.1 BILLION from the government while it's workers scrounge around for change and live off food stamps every month???
I say we get every single Anti-WalMart watchdog group together next year - set a date - and advertise this date HEAVILY in every media outlet - GET THE GENERAL PUBLIC INVOLVED for a new campaign called:
GET WALMART OFF WELFARE!!!
We should set a date and EVERYBODY needs to go and picket in front of the "Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart store" Demand that workers overseas be paid a living wage, demand that workers here be paid a living wage, AND NOT ONE CENT PASSED ONTO THE CONSUMER.
It should be A CRIME for a 12 billion dollar company to have A SINGLE EMPLOYEE on the government dole.
thanx for the numbers.
"free" market... "free" enterprise... BULLSHIT.
at the risk of repitition... HOW... does saving ("saving" which from anecdotal research is questionable)... 42 cents... SAVE... me ANYTHING?
when... i pay this giant corporate welfare bill?
wake up non-commondream-readers... (too bad they won't see this)...
buying toothpaste for less (and it's questionable)... i went through a walmart... looked at about 1/2 dozen common purchases... went right to the local publix supermarket... same or higher at walmart on most...
lets not forget the other right wing talking point... esp. when they're screaming about tax cuts.. regularly mention... small businesses provide most of the jobs...
how many small businesses... are now NOT... directly due to walmart?
"...the government is shelling out billions of dollars a year to subsidize the industry’s bottom line."
This is the case with nearly every major US industry one can think of, the nuclear industry, oil, big Pharma, big Agra, wall st, the banks, etc. Until all corporate behemoths are removed from the public dole and forced to compete in a true free market where anti-trust laws are vigorously enforced NOTHING will change for the better.
With the shrinking U.S. manufacturing, wage and tax base I don't see how this can be sustainable for much longer. This is why I think the vampires at the Fed have looted the US Treasury in anticipation of moving on. And I suspect they will not stop looting until they have impoverished this country as they have Haiti ...then merrily skip on to their way to the next sucker ...I'm guessing China.
The Vampires of the Fed... You do realize that government representatives are nothing more than the puppets from the crony-capitalist private sector don't you???
Government does not attack capitalism. Crony-Capitalists attack capitalism, and in their hands, government is a useful TOOL. The private sector BUYS ITS WAY INTO democratic governments until they are completely compromised.
We need a viable 3rd party that understands that dynamic.
re: moving on to China. They made that decision over 35 years ago when Nixon went to China; or, possibly, when Nixon was sent to China by Wall St bankers et. al.
"then merrily skip on to their way to the next sucker ...I'm guessing China"
No need to guess. They are falling over themselves in their rush to China.
The Card Check provision maybe to EFCA what the Public Option is to Healthcare Reform.
This is one more strike against Whole Foods Exec. (not the workers).
I'm guessing employees are not unionized, but maybe they should be.
Talk to your average American and he'll tell you that unions are the reason we can't compete in the world market. The American worker is now expected to compete with Chinese slaves making 25 cents an hour. We have become a nation of morons.
The numbers you cite are breathtaking. We are clearly under the thumb of our corporate fascist taskmasters with no end in sight.
And check out what the idiot conservatives in media say about unions...
Morning Joe journos can't name a successful unionized company, even though one signs their paychecks
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200906030009
I wonder which characteristic is most prominent in average Americans, fear, stupidity or selfishness. The last one is surely the most ironic, since all of them enable right wing corporate fascist propagandists to persuade Americans consistently to vote against their own best interests. [By the way, I've been using the term corporate/fascist for some time to describe the right's political machine. You obviously find it an apt description too.]
The wholesale exportation of American manufacturing to low-wage third world countries is a double tragedy. Industry was once the most thoroughly unionized segment of the economy. As a result few families didn't contain a union member or have one as a neighbor. With union membership diminished to less than a third of its former levels, it's far easier for the anti-democratic right wing to demonize.
I see the Obama administration as a pivotal opportunity for this country to reverse course, reject the feudal social structure of laissez faire capitalism, and reinstate the middle class. If this fails, I foresee in our future generations of medieval economic polarization.
I'm trying to persuade my wife that we need to move to Europe.