Workers say Amazon is now deploying its union-busting "science" at Whole Foods

PHILADELPHIA — At Whole Foods’ flagship location in the city of brotherly love, management tried to lure workers away from a union rally on Monday by offering up no-cost hoagies and bags of chips. “We work here and can’t even shop here,” Mase Veney, a Whole Foods employee, said just steps from his employer’s front door. There’s the “free food and fake smiles,” she said, but it’s paired with an air of menace: “They’re posting anti-union propaganda on every inch of wall space in the store backroom; they replaced all our store leadership and team leads with Whole Foods union-busting pros; are using strangers to monitor us and incite fear.” State Sen. Nikil Saval addresses workers at a Whole Foods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Last year, however, a spokesperson told Salon that the grocer is “committed to listening to our Team Members, making changes based on their feedback, and treating all our Team Members fairly in a safe, inclusive working environment.” Philadelphia elected officials appear united in skepticism, the broad coalition that came out in support of Whole Foods workers on Monday a testament to the power of organized labor in the city: among the dozen or so politicians in attendance were progressives, like Councilmember Jamie Gauthier and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, as well as state Rep. Amen Brown, a conservative-leaning Democrat who has raised tens of thousands of dollars from groups linked to Jeffrey Yass, a Republican mega-donor and ally of President-elect Donald Trump.