“Whole Foods lost, the workers won”: NLRB officer sides with union in certification fight

A National Labor Relations Board report has dealt a setback to union-busting efforts by Amazon, a regional hearing officer rejecting the company’s arguments that workers at a Whole Foods in Philadelphia should not be afforded the right to collectively bargain.

In January, a majority of employees at Whole Foods’ flagship Philadelphia location voted to join a union. Prior to the vote, a spokesperson for Whole Foods Market, which Amazon acquired in 2017, had said the company “recognizes the rights of our Team Members to make an informed decision on whether union representation is right for them.”

But Amazon soon after filed a slew of objections with the NLRB, claiming, among other things, that UFCW Local 1776 had unfairly offered to provide employees’ transportation to the union polling site. It also argued that the NLRB cannot certify the union election because it lacks a quorum — a product of President Donald Trump’s legally dubious attempt to fire one of the board’s Democratic-appointed and Senate-confirmed members, Gwynne Wilcox.

In a decision issued May 1, Philadelphia-region Hearing Officer Deena E. Kobel rejected those arguments. The company’s claim that the union had improperly provided transportation to workers on the day of the election, for example, was found legally lacking and practically irrelevant, Kobel pointing out that rides were offered to all employees, regardless of stated voting intentions — and that only nine workers utilized the option in an election that Amazon lost by 15 votes.

The decision, which recommends that the NLRB move forward with certification, is subject to appeal. But UFCW Local 1776 President Wendell Young IV urged the company to immediately enter into talks with its workers.

“This ruling is definitive—Whole Foods lost, the workers won, and it’s time for the company to respect the results,” Young said in a statement. “Amazon’s tired playbook of delay and obstruction has failed. We call on Whole Foods to stop wasting time and taxpayer resources with baseless legal challenges and sit down at the bargaining table to negotiate a fair contract.”

However, a Whole Foods Market spokesperson told Salon that the company has no intention of changing course just yet.

“This is a preliminary report, not a ruling on the objections we’ve filed, and we remain confident that our objections will ultimately be upheld as the full process plays out,” the spokesperson said.