Unions Join Whole Foods Boycott Fray

Two unions have now joined in the growing chorus decrying Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey and suggesting a boycott of the store. Two weeks ago, Mackey penned a controversial op-ed in the Wall Street Journal offering the "Whole Foods alternative to ObamaCare."

"The last thing our country needs is a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health care system," Mackey wrote, then suggested a neat solution. (Hint: this alternative involves grocery shopping at Whole Foods.)

As the NY Times write-up of "the most unexpected" sideshow to the 2009 Health Care Debate put it: "Reaction from pro-reform Whole Foods shoppers was swift and vociferous." Now the Change To Win Investment Group and United Food And Commercial Workers Union -- both a part of the Change To Win federation of unions representing six million workers -- have put out statements criticizing Mackey and encouraging a boycott of the store.

CtW called for Mackey's removal as chairman of the board and CEO. "Mr. Mackey attempted to capitalize on the brand reputation of Whole Foods to champion his personal political views, but has instead deeply offended a key segment of Whole Foods consumer base," the group's executive director Bill Patterson said in a statement. UFCW has begun handing out pamphlets to Whole Food shoppers. The group said Mackey's op-ed was an "attempt to undermine Obama's health-care reform." (Whole Foods is not unionized.)

Not everyone is so taken aback by Mackey's suggestions. In the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker declared, "Now is the time for all good capitalists to shop at Whole Foods." Parker's sentiments are echoed by several conservative bloggers and journalists. Doug Bandow wrote in the American Conservative that "it is good to see at least one company stand on principle." Blogger Radley Balko of The Agitator blog strongly concurred: "I plan to do a lot more shopping at Whole Foods in the coming weeks."

Whole Foods has remained pretty quiet throughout, though Mackey did write in his Whole Foods blog that "I gave my personal opinions... [the] company has no official position on the issue."

Comments

[waldensr]

dear hufington post readers and union leaders,
it appears that your mafia union tactic toward whole foods got you on the us suprme court rico task ofrce against organize crooks of the obam network, like acorn and seiu.

i nailed your darling justice sotomayor, and she cannot be seated at the us supreme court, that was a criminal conflict of interest,

just like the unions, a criminal conflict of interest, they are now defednats with barrack obama and guess what the unon have to shell out in automatic judgements­-trillions­.

so boys and girls, thank you for being so stupid, and an obama lover.

[yankhadenuf]

Grassroots boycotting is not a crime, and neither is spellcheck.

[beyobi]

"I understand how some people who lack a fundamental understanding of economics might be outraged"

Capitalism demands an unemployment rate of 4 - 6% to provide for a stable pool of affordable workers, perpetuate "growth" and keep inflation in check. That is a fundamental economic fact. In light of this how do you propose those 4 - 6% get health care?

You might want to read Naomi Klein's book, "The Shock Doctrine" for a fresh perspective on the free market. Or you can just put your head back in the sand.

[KristinNoelle]

You are correct, and this is why legislation that allows people to carry their insurance between jobs and decreases waiting periods when they change insurance companies is a good idea.

[beyobi]

And how are you supposed to be able to afford COBRA if you have lost your job?

[KristinNoelle]

Sorry, I have to make one more comment. I can't let go of your last sentence. I am the first to admit that there is no perfect solution. In an ideal world we would scrap the whole system and start over, but in the real world this isn't possible. I have worked as a health care provider, I have friends and family with serious illnesses and disabilities, and I am currently pursuing my PhD in economics and public policy.

I have studied these issues, inside and out, for years. Naomi Klein may be a smart woman, but she is a JOURNALIST and her book discusses traditional economic theories. Health economics is very much in a class of its own, and it is not so easy to analyze.

That aside, anyone who has taken econ 101 should realize that we simply cannot reform health care without making some sacrifices. I'm not trying to be rude. I realize that this is a very personal issue for many people, but I'm afraid there just isn't any way to maintain or improve care for all 300 million people in this country..

[beyobi]

And journalists are incapable of objective analysis? You are mistaken about health care economics being any different from any other. Insurance companies are in business to make money and they do so by selling insurance. Same model. Different product.

The argument is a simple one: Either you believe health care is a right or a privilege.

[KristinNoelle]

I think many of you are forgetting that Obama plan isn't going to give away free care to the uninsured, it is going to mandate that they BUY it. If costs aren't brought under control first, the plan will not work, not even with a public option.

I understand how some people who lack a fundamental understanding of economics might be outraged, but the fact is that his comments were very realistic. The changes he proposes offer a pretty decent shot at attaining the best health status for our money. It would be nice to offer all Americans health insurance right now, but it just isn't fiscally or logistically possible without making other changes first. There aren't enough health professionals, facilities, or money. With strategically placed tax incentives, the free market is really the best way to lower costs. After we do this, THEN we can mandate health care for all.

[TrueThis]

Noone is looking for free health care just affordable and an option to chose.

[KristinNoelle]

The key word is affordable. Obama has mentioned that he won't sign a bill that increases costs, but we need to drastically CUT costs if we want to insure an extra 47 million people.

We currently spend 17% of our GDP on health, almost double that of any other nation, and we have little to show for it. Although he has proposed ways to cut costs, the things he has mentioned really aren't the major causes of why our costs are so high. He also fails to address things that actually DO substantially increase costs, like defensive medicine.

Obama has said on numerous occasions that he disagrees with capping punitive damages on lawsuits. I'm sorry, but suing your doctor for 17 million dollars vs. 1 million dollars isn't going to teach them a better lesson. Of course we need to cover the health and economic costs related to the error, but suing for outrageous amounts doesn't help. We need to get incompetent doctors out of practice, not keep them in the pool so that all doctors have to pay out the wazoo for malpractice insurance.

[condor101]

This post deserves to be repeated:

Marie Antoinette, 1778: "Let them eat cake."

John Mackey, 2009: "Let them eat tofu."

[Bardmess]

I can't afford to shop at Whole Foods anyway, but if I could, I wouldn't.

[punkin76]

I stopped going there long ago when I finally admitted a slipping in the quality of the products, mainly fruits and veggies but fish and prepared foods too. Why go out of your way to get less and spend more for it. The produce I get from Publix was always better , cheaper and more consistent. I've had
a couple of discussions with other customers at wf and got similar stories. The slide down, and the price upshift was gradual.

In my city the changes started when wh bought out a local owner a few years ago. It takes an arrogant and clueless CEO to wake us up to what we already knew.

[SoSavvy]

i will now do ALL of my shopping at the berkeley bowl and farmers market. i'll have to make about two trips to shop but it's well worth it considering what jerk this fella is!

[kroltan]

F* ck Whole Paycheck Foods. There is one opening in our neighborhood soon. I'll continue to shop at my excellent locally owned grocery store, New Seasons Market, and will encourage everyone I know to do the same. A bit further away, but well worth the trip.

[DestinationsUnknown]

Blue DOG Town HALL on C-SPAN --NOW

[homerman]

I'm done going to Whole Foods until this guy is FIRED!

[crater123]

I'll join you

[vandegrasse]

All Mackey has to do is apologize for making remarks inappropriate to his clientele. The whole thing would dry up. But he's too stoopid to do something as sensible as that!

[nibblybits]

He won't apologize. He's a true believer, an Ayn Rand disciple, who believes those less fortunate deserve to be there. This was no off the cuff remark; he wrote a long op-ed in the WSJ espousing his views. He believes them.

As as co-founder of Whole Foods and a large shareholder, he can't really be fired from his job. So the only way to really express your disagreement is to boycott. And even then, he won't change his mind.

[Ken114]

Yeah I can see his coments making since if the majority of his customers were conservatives but you don't see a lot of vegan rednecks these days so yeah, bad choice of words.

[vandegrasse]

Fanned and faved. A lot of sense in your statement. Mackey is self-destructor with foot and mouth disease!

[RealityThinks]

yea great idea - force them out of biz and all of the thousands of libs that work there can join the unemployment lines!

[Truelee]

In a capitalistic free market economy, I'm taking my business else where.

[nibblybits]

Exactly. There are plenty of other groceries and health food stores that employ people too. Why not reward them, especially the ones that are mom-and-pop places?

[jimme]

That's right, that kind of work is below a repub, right? That's why they don't really want any change in the illegal alien policies. They sure talk about it come election time though and then never do anything about it. Then they'd have no more cheap labor. aka Modern Slavery.

[Bjarni]

Again, absolutely no perspective on reality.

Those people who you want to call cheap labor, Modern slavery earn more money here in the US than they would in their home country. That's why they come here. So in essence they are more of a slave in their own country than here.

These people are not forced to be here, they choose to stay, nobody owns them. To trivialize what African slaves went through when they were treated like cattle, where the strong were forced to mate to have stronger children for better future workers. They received no salary and were imprisoned in confined camps.

It's not below a republican, it's just liberal minded people are more likely to apply for work there, they are more likely to live that type of lifestyle and more young adults are liberal than conservative.

[pollyx]

I am now looking into how I can donate money to these unions and support the cause. Sadly, I used to be a daily WF shopper until I read Mackey's op-ed. I hope more co-ops like the Santa Monica co-op will sprout up after this!

[vandegrasse]

As Whole Foods got bigger and richer Mackey got wackier! I used to go there too, but the place began to feel alien to me. Glitzy and yuppy. I stopped going there 3 years ago when I realized how exorbitant the prices were.

[yankhadenuf]

lol, no more yuppy grub by wacky Mackey for me either. I guess he bamboozled progressives with exorbitant prices the same way Amway suckers the rightwingers , by convincing us we were "helping others" by shelling out big bucks to Whole Foods.

[Dvmx]

Enemy of the People. Don't give them another dime. Shop elsewhere.

[themuse]

All those wanna-be rich capitalists can't afford Whole Paycheck.