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      130+ Groups Send Letter to Whole Foods Market Calling on Company to Put "Planet Over Plastic"

      This is the second letter to the retail chain, which continues to fail in reducing its plastic footprint.

      Newswire Editor
      Mar 10, 2021

      Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and more than 130 additional groups from coast-to-coast mailed Whole Foods CEO John Mackey a letter Thursday calling on him to commit to a concrete and verifiable plan to reduce the company's plastic footprint. This is the coalition's second letter imploring the market to make this change, and it comes on the heels of a Greenpeace report released last week that found the chain was failing on its policies and practices aimed at eliminating plastic waste.

      Specifically, the letter says that the company needs to commit to steps that eliminate single-use plastic packaging from its stores by Amazon's annual shareholder meeting in May 2021. These steps include: A 25 percent reduction in the amount of single-use plastic packaging units sold by the 365 Everyday Value product line by 2025; a commitment to generate 15 percent of annual revenues from the sale of products packaged in reusable packaging by 2025; and a public report on the company's plastic footprint by 2022. Other groups who signed onto the letter include Greenpeace USA, Oceana and The Plastic Pollution Coalition. In October, several groups in the coalition sent its first letter to Mackey, but received no response.

      "To protect marine species, companies like Whole Foods, who are responsible for this source of plastic pollution, must act to put the planet over plastic by committing to a bold path forward on reducing plastic waste," said Kelsey Lamp, Protect Our Oceans campaign director for Environment America Research & Policy Center. "The rising tide of plastic entering our rivers and oceans each year can harm and kill turtles, seabirds and fish. This plastic is a clear example of a culture that prioritizes a moment's convenience over the long term health of our planet and we clearly must change."

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      Newswire
      Amazon employees hold a protest and walkout

      Workers Gear Up for Major May Day Strike in Pushback Against Unsafe Conditions Amid Pandemic

      One organizer explained that the goal is to "push back with large numbers against the right-wing groups that want to risk our lives by reopening the economy."

      Andrea Germanos
      Apr 29, 2020

      Workers at some of the nation's biggest companies including Amazon and Target are preparing to symbolically lock arms Friday for a May 1 strike and demand better protections on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.

      \u201cWhole Foods, Amazon, Target, and Instacart workers are striking on May 1st\u201d
      — Michael Sainato (@Michael Sainato) 1587574303

      Among the lead organizers of the action, Motherboardreported Wednesday, is Chris Smalls, the Amazon worker who was fired last month from his job at a fulfillment center in Staten Island after organizing a protest.

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      'Minority Report Union-Busting' Tactics at Whole Foods Decried Following Reporting on Company's Labor Activism Heat Map

      'Minority Report Union-Busting' Tactics at Whole Foods Decried Following Reporting on Company's Labor Activism Heat Map

      The company, which is owned by Amazon, uses factors like race, turnover, and "loyalty" to determine each store's score. 

      Eoin Higgins
      Apr 20, 2020

      Progressives on Monday criticized Whole Foods, the grocery chain owned by Amazon, for using a heat map to track potential union activity at its stores across the U.S.--relying on data around racial diversity, "loyalty," and labor complaints as indicators that affect how the corporation scores the sites.

      "This is infuriating but it's also a testament to the urgency and importance of essential workers unionizing," tweetedThe Atlantic's Adam Serwer.

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