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Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

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Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#101

Post by DrScump »

srtjstjsj wrote: post #49
imagiko wrote: post #38

I have noticed that the cashier's have gotten pushy about asking about a Prime account, and very recently about a charity donation. It's a good way to 'make' people donate when asked upfront. I'm sure the probability of people donating increases. When I denied, I was asked if I'd like to round off my payment and have the balance donated. Honestly, it's very annoying. Whole foods is unfortunately becoming an REI store…

That's the new trend in many grocery stores. Someone on HN or Reddit mentioned that grocery charities are actually a tactic to estimate the sign of the derivative of e the customer base's grocery-discretionary income, as a hint of when to raise prices.

Or simply introduce themselves as the vector for charity, taking corporate credit for the donations of their customers.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#102

Post by masonic »

lsmarigo wrote: post #73
imagiko wrote: post #38

I have noticed that the cashier's have gotten pushy about asking about a Prime account, and very recently about a charity donation. It's a good way to 'make' people donate when asked upfront. I'm sure the probability of people donating increases. When I denied, I was asked if I'd like to round off my payment and have the balance donated. Honestly, it's very annoying. Whole foods is unfortunately becoming an REI store…

Panda Express kicks this up a notch and has a little bell they ring whenever someone donates their change adding an element of social pressure/shame, super scummy

They are scummy in general. All the PEs near me stop cooking all their best entree items by 7PM on the theory that customers will accept whatever slop is left... yet they continue to offer all their items over mobile (they'll just happily tell you they "ran out" when you get there).

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#103

Post by masonic »

bendoidic wrote: post #62
imagiko wrote: post #38

I have noticed that the cashier's have gotten pushy about asking about a Prime account, and very recently about a charity donation. It's a good way to 'make' people donate when asked upfront. I'm sure the probability of people donating increases. When I denied, I was asked if I'd like to round off my payment and have the balance donated. Honestly, it's very annoying. Whole foods is unfortunately becoming an REI store…

Ralphs and Vons in California have been doing the charity ask for years. I always assumed it was their way of bragging later "how much they gave back to the community" while conveniently forgetting to mention those funds came from customer donations. I hate it, too.

Safeway also.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#104

Post by abledon »

musgrove wrote: post #78
wpasc wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. in my experiences (anecdotal, I know), WF was a lot earlier to larger varieties of organic produce and organic products. It is true that many stores have caught up, but WF still has a larger selection of organic/fair trade certified/high quality meats than most other stores. Their animal welfare rating system alone is pretty pioneering (if it is to be believed). They have also partnered with more local gr…

Organic does not mean healthier.

organic celery is healthier than regular celery. So in some cases yes.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#106

Post by craftyguy »

airstrike wrote: post #75
deathanatos wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that's part of the problem. I go to Super Duper in SF, and every time, the employee is forced to ask: "Have you been to Super Duper before?" If I say yes, "Welcome back!" if I say no, "Welcome!"¹. It is pointless. All I want is lunch. Want to see that I've been here before? You have my credit card number… ¹The exact words might not be right, the point is that there is no meaningful difference to the customer betw…

> All I want is lunch. All they want is to know whether they need to explain to you in detail or if you already have a sense of the menu. Not sure what you find odd with people trying to provide you good service. smh

Except in the case you're replying to.. which seems to indicate there's no difference in response from the employee.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#107

Post by amphibian87 »

notyourwork wrote: post #95
cliffordthedog wrote: post #86

Good timing, last thing Amazon will want right now is a battle with a union. Especially for a company they acquired so recently (shows that things got quickly worse with Amazon in charge). Good luck Whole Foods workers.

I'm not sure this shows things got quickly worse. It may just show Whole Foods employees lost control they used to have but I think you are jumping to conclusions.

Are you joking? This is Amazon, the company where warehouse workers have to pick an item with so little time, they have to jog around the warehouse. Workers urinating in bottles because using the bathroom during non breaks = termination. Oh, and those breaks last exactly 14 minutes and 59 seconds, because anything after is Bezos' time, and you will be reprimanded.

While he is one of the richest people in the world, can't figure out how to spend it all. Literally throwing it away into a corporatefascist space program before he increases wages.

Unions should quite obviously have formed by now.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#108

Post by craftyguy »

ALittleLight wrote: post #67
matthewmacleod wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but if you're reminded repeatedly by management and you continue not to, then what would you expect to happen? I’d expect a massive fucking award for not constantly pissing off customers with this nonsense.

How are you annoying customers by giving them an opportunity to save money? Perhaps the customer is a Prime member and doesn't know or doesn't recall that they will get a discount.

A Prime membership does not automatically save anyone money. It costs money to have it. It's perceived value is entirely subjective, and based on how you value what it offers. It also requires you giving Amazon more money to realize some of the benefits (e.g. free shipping only with Amazon [and their prices aren't always the lowest]).

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#109

Post by AlexandrB »

nordsieck wrote: post #87
dasil003 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the “real” world is one ruled by corporations where the decision maker on all policies is someone that never comes within earshot of an actual customer transaction? I guess that is arguably the world we have been trending towards but it’s not the only viable world.

> So the “real” world is one ruled by corporations where the decision maker on all policies is someone that never comes within earshot of an actual customer transaction? The real world is one where you do the job you're paid to do.

> The real world is one where you do the job you're paid to do.

Actually the real world is the one where the FTC has largely given up on regulating monopolistic behaviour and The Department of Labor has abdicated its responsibility of protecting workers from abusive employers. In this real world the only moral principle that anyone cares about is profit.

Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize

#110

Post by JauntyHatAngle »

lsmarigo wrote: post #73
imagiko wrote: post #38

I have noticed that the cashier's have gotten pushy about asking about a Prime account, and very recently about a charity donation. It's a good way to 'make' people donate when asked upfront. I'm sure the probability of people donating increases. When I denied, I was asked if I'd like to round off my payment and have the balance donated. Honestly, it's very annoying. Whole foods is unfortunately becoming an REI store…

Panda Express kicks this up a notch and has a little bell they ring whenever someone donates their change adding an element of social pressure/shame, super scummy

I would actively avoid donating in that case, because I don't like attention for that kind of thing.
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