Amazon tries to block Whole Foods workers from forming a union after losing NLRB election

After a clear majority of employees at a Whole Foods in Philadelphia voted to form a union last month, workers — and others desperate for inspiring news out of 2025 — celebrated what would be the first successful organizing campaign at one of the Amazon-owned grocery stores. Just over a week later, however, that victory is in doubt.

On Tuesday, Whole Foods Market, which Amazon purchased for $13.7 billion back in 2017, filed two objections with the National Labor Relations Board over the Jan. 27 election, in which workers voted 130-100 to join the local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

The objections were filed at a time of turmoil at NLRB. Last week, The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, reported that Whole Foods workers could be waiting a while for recognition as President Donald Trump fired two of the NLRB’s leaders soon after taking office, a move that critics said was illegal and which “rendered the federal agency that protects rights to unionize effectively toothless.” As one expert told the outlet, the firings mean NLRB is not in a position to compel parties to engage in collective bargaining.

Amazon, along with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is also part of a lawsuit alleging that NLRB is unconstitutional.

A Whole Foods spokesperson previously told Salon that the company “recognizes the rights of our Team Members to make an informed decision on whether union representation is right for them.” But in a statement on Tuesday, the company alleged that UFCW “illegally interfered with our Team Members’ right to a fair vote at our Philly Center City Store” and that, accordingly, it has “asked the NLRB to set aside the results of the election.”

Wendell Young IV, president of UFCW Local 1776, said that he’s not surprised that an Amazon-owned company would refuse to accept the outcome of last month’s vote.

“We fully expected Whole Foods to try to stall this process,” Young said in a statement. “Amazon has a well-documented history of using baseless objections to undermine the rights of workers seeking representation, and this case is no different. Their goal is clear: they don’t want to bargain in good faith with their workers.”