Whole Foods workers seek union membership, says Amazon "exploit our dedication" – TechCrunch

A group of Whole Foods Market workers is working to create a union for the more than 85,000 employees of Amazon's company.

In a letter to Whole Foods employees, members of the Whole Foods Interregional Committee wrote that they were "concerned about the direction" of Whole Foods during the Amazon era. The letter highlights several requests, including a minimum wage of $ 15 for all employees, a $ 401k match, paid maternity leave, lower health insurance deductibles and more.

"We can not let Amazon redo the entire retail landscape in North America without embracing the full value of its team members. The success of Amazon and [Whole Foods] should not be at the cost of exploiting our dedication and the threat we have to our economic stability, "they wrote.

The supply chain was acquired by Amazon a year ago as part of a $ 13.7 billion deal. sent shockwaves in e-commerce and retail industries. During this 12-month period, the e-commerce giant made changes to some 500 stores in the food chain. The echoes of Amazon are now part of the inventory in some places and Amazon lockers have appeared to facilitate Amazon.com pickups and returns, for example.

The letter, which directly calls both Jeff Bezos and Whole Foods chief executive John Mackey, says "layoffs will continue in 2019 and beyond, while Amazon expects to reduce

Since the acquisition of Amazon, several hundred Whole Foods workers have been fired while Amazon "Whole Foods with its efficient and data-driven ethos," according to the Wall Street Journal. Buyers, however, saved millions thanks to the reshuffle.

In a statement to TechCrunch, a representative of Whole Foods said they respect the "individual rights of [their] members of the team. "

"[We] Have an open door policy that encourages team members to share their comments, questions and concerns directly with team leaders ", I said. "We believe that this direct connection is the most effective way to understand and respond to the needs of our staff and creates an atmosphere conducive to open communication and empowerment. We offer competitive salaries and benefits and we are committed to ensuring the growth and success of our team members.

Amazon has provided a virtually identical statement, adding that it encourages people involved in processing employees to visit one of their distribution centers.

Here is the complete letter obtained by New Food Economy.