OCA: Take Action

Tell Whole Foods and UNFI: Organic Means Respecting Workers' Rights

In recent weeks, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has urged the world's largest organic and "natural" retailer and wholesaler, Whole Foods Market and United Natural Foods, Inc. respectively, to prioritize certified organic food and products, support farmers and manufacturers' transition to organic production, and to stop advertising or promoting so-called "natural" products (greenwashed
conventional products) as if they were "almost as good as" are "almost organic."

Since our founding in 1998, OCA has fought to integrate organic and Fair Trade principles, to protect the rights of workers, both in the U.S. and abroad, throughout the natural and organic supply chain, from farm workers and food processing workers, to truck drivers, warehouse packers and retail clerks in grocery stores, coffee houses, and restaurants. OCA believes that Fair Trade, health, and sustainability are the inseparable components of an organic food and farming system and a green economy. This is why the OCA and our allies are challenging industry leaders, Whole Foods and UNFI, as well as the entire organic and green community, to implement a domestic Organic and Fair Trade code of conduct that assures workers' rights are respected.

Though Whole Foods and UNFI have continually cultivated an image of "socially responsibility," the facts are quite the opposite. The OCA and allies have chronicled numerous examples of labor abuses in the organic market, Whole Food's poor social responsibility record, lack of real support for farm workers, and mere lip service to support small farmers.

UNFI, for its part, has resolutely opposed its employees being represented at every turn. When UNFI drivers in Rocklin, CA sought to organize, they sent their CEO in to intimidate workers into voting against the union. In Auburn, WA, where the warehouse workers and drivers are union, UNFI has opened a new distribution center a short distance away and is transferring work there, starting with Whole Foods work, and UNFI has refused to agree to any language which would provide real protection for the Auburn workers’ jobs. In the Eastern US, UNFI bought Millbrook Distributing and almost immediately closed that company’s two unionized facilities to move the work to non union facilities.

Finally, Whole Foods has joined Costco and Starbucks to erode the popular support for the Employee Free Choice Act, or EFCA, which would level the playing field for workers looking to form unions. EFCA is more important than ever, considering that a recent Cornell University study found that "of 1,004 union organizing drives, employers threatened to close plants in 57 percent of the campaigns and threatened to cut wages and benefits in 47 percent." Additionally, the study found that employers "fired pro-union workers in 34 percent of the campaigns."

Take action today and send the Whole Foods and UNFI's CEOs a message that organic means means supporting workers' rights!

November 21, 2009

Subject:

Dear sir/madam

I am an organic consumer and increasingly concerned about the status of workers' rights throughout the organic and 'natural' supply chain. While I am happy that Whole Foods and UNFI have begun to incorporate more certified Fair Trade products, I fear that workers, from farm laborers to retail workers, are not adequately protected under the current system.

I urge you to safeguard workers' rights by supporting the following :

-Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)-a bill that would level the playing field for workers looking for form unions,  including mandatory arbitration provisions. EFCA creates a fair process for resolving contract disputes. EFCA will contribute to the long-term longevity of Whole Foods and UNFI by creating a just an sustainable workplace.

-Vendor Code of Conduct – Many products distributed by Whole Foods and UNFI are sourced in industries and areas where human rights abuses and unfair labor practices have been alleged or well documented. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, child labor in hazardous conditions is widespread on cocoa farms in West Africa. (U.S. Department of Labor's "2005 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor"—2006) A code of conduct should be established for vendors based on the United Nations' International Labour Organization's (ILO) core labor standards and the United Nations Draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights. (http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/commentary-Aug2003.htm). In addition, large North American industrial vendors have the resources to be held to a higher standard for worker and human rights, which should be the same standard to which UNFI holds itself.
 
-Code of Conduct – In recognition of the fact that Whole Food and UNFI’s operations have a profound impact not only on the food chain as a whole, but on the workers that they employ and the communities in which they operate, Whole Foods and UNFI should establish a labor and human rights code of conduct which exceeds their vendor guidelines. It should include respecting the right of their employees to make their own choices as to whether or not and how they wish to be represented free of pressure for or against such a decision by their employer. When a verified majority of  employees in a location petition for union representation, Whole Foods UNFI should recognize their organization.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

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Tell Whole Foods and UNFI: Organic Means Respecting Workers' Rights