Whole Foods asks agency to set aside results of union win at Philadelphia store

abcnews.go.com:

Amazon-owned Whole Foods is asking the National Labor Relations Board to set aside the results of a union election that led to a labor win

Amazon-owned Whole Foods is asking the National Labor Relations Board to set aside the results of a union election in which the first group of the company’s employees voted in favor of collective bargaining.

In a filing submitted to the agency this week, attorneys for Whole Foods Market argued the union involved with the election, held last week at a store in Philadelphia, interfered in the process by promising employees a 30% wage increase if they unionized and providing free transportation to them the day of the vote.

The company also accused The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union – which worked to unionize workers through a local chapter – of intimidating employees who supported Whole Foods. The company did not provide specific details on its allegations, which the union disputes.

Pro-union workers prevailed last week after 130 employees in the store – or about 57% of the ballots cast – voted in favor of organizing. The election results still need be certified by a regional director of the NLRB, which Whole Foods says can't lawfully be done since the agency currently does not have a third board member in Washington. Gynne A. Wilcox, one of the agency's board members, was fired last week by the Trump administration.

In a statement, UFCW Local 1776, the local union that pulled off the labor win, called the company’s allegations baseless. It also said the objections filed by Whole Foods was a legal maneuvering done to delay the bargaining process.

“We fully expected Whole Foods to try to stall this process," said Wendell Young IV, the president of the local