Amazon training videos coach Whole Foods staff on how to discourage unions
The Guardian obtained internal videos sent to Whole Foods management, coaching them on how to watch for unionizing
A sign promoting the Amazon Prime Now delivery service is displayed outside a Whole Foods store in Cincinnati on 8 February 2018. Photograph: John Minchillo/AP
Michael Sainato-Whole Foods Market has stepped up its efforts to crack down on union activity among employees – instructing managers to watch out for warning signs of union activity and to tell possible union members that joining a union is a “roll of the dice”.
Amazon-owned
Following a mass email sent out on 6 September by Whole Foods employees seeking to coordinate with one another to discuss workplace issues and the prospect of forming a union, Amazon released training videos for managers in an attempt to head off union efforts.
The Guardian obtained Amazon training videos first reported by Gizmodo that were recently sent out to Whole Foods store management and team leaders (department managers), coaching them on how to union bust within their stores.
“Bargaining is a roll of the dice. Things could get better for associates, but they could get worse or stay exactly the same,” said one cartoon character in the training video.
In another segment, the narrator noted a character could have blamed General Motors’ bankruptcy as a symptom of labor unions.
“Having a union could make it hard to stay competitive,” another character in a video segment said. “They don’t share our same values.”
During the same segment, the character cited that the majority of political donations from unions go to Democrats, and the narrator reaffirmed this characterization.
“A union severs the direct working relationship between associates and managers we value so highly,” the narrator added.
One training video segment includes teaching managers how to find “warning signs” of unionization efforts, which included any employees who stick around after their shift has ended. Warning signs also included looking out for “union words” such as a “living wage”.
The training videos provide managers with tips and information on how to navigate around labor laws to prevent unionization efforts and how to express criticism toward union efforts without committing an unfair labor practice. “Avoid absolutes, speak in possibilities instead,” advised the narrator.
In one example cited in the video, the narrator said: “You would never threaten to close your building just because associates joined a union. But you might need to talk about how having a union could hurt innovation which could hurt customer obsession which could ultimately threaten the building’s continued existence.”
Over the past few weeks since the Whole Worker Community first announced its existence and sent a mass recruiting email to stores around the country, several Whole Foods employees have reported managers and team leaders being sent into training meetings on labor unions.
“They told us how as team leaders we are expected to toe the company line and be anti-union,” one Whole Foods employee who recently attended one of the meetings told the Guardian. “As team leaders we have been told that we are expected to support the company’s anti-union stance and that unions were good at the turn of the century, but aren’t necessary any more because the government has labor laws.”
Other Whole Foods workers claimed their management wasn’t forthright about the meetings focusing on unions. “I peeked into the store conference room and there was some slide up titled ‘WFM and Unions’, and I asked several team leaders about it afterwards who all declined to comment or made something up about it being about the new signage stuff,” one employee told the Guardian.
Another worker said their manager claimed the meetings were about the holidays.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said of the union training videos: “We’re perplexed as to why Gizmodo takes issue with a company wanting to better engage its employees, train hundreds of managers to maintain an open and direct dialogue with associates, and create channels to drive innovation on behalf of the customer in a caring and inclusive environment. The reporter clearly cherry-picked soundbites from the video to meet his editorial objective and do not align with our view on how to create career opportunities for employees.
“In the US, the average hourly wage for a full-time associate in our fulfillment centers, including cash, stock and incentive bonuses is over $15/hour before overtime. That’s in addition to our full benefits package that includes health, vision and dental insurance, retirement, generous parental leave, and skills training for in-demand jobs through our Career Choice program, which has over 16,000 participants. We encourage anyone to come see for themselves by taking a tour at one of our fulfillment centers.”
