If they don't like working there, then they should go work somewhere else. It's still a free country... right???
Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
181–190 of 415 posts
Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
>"Welcome!"¹. It is pointless. All I want is lunch. Yeesh. If that bugs you then... just lighten up. Most people aren't anti-social to such an extreme. You're the odd man out here, not the rest of humanity.
You're the odd man out here, not the rest of humanity. Really? People like the forced conviviality? In San Francisco, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country? With a sizable number of first-generation immigrants, unacculturated to the strange customs of the USA? Why can't we have attentive food service, where they pour you fresh coffee the second you sign them to but not earlier, and where they don't…
You can, you just have to avoid chain restaurants to do so.
Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
#183Earlier 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…
Lol, "have you dined with us before" is the most irritating thing. I usually want to say, "no, but I've dined at a thousand other restaurants, will this be radically unfamiliar?"
In my experience servers ask this to find out if they should give the longer description of the menu or not. If you have been there before they might just tell you the specials, while if you haven't they'll tell you about some of the most popular items and anything unique about the way they do things (tapas style, etc.).
Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
#184A lot of finger pointing at Amazon but most of the employment demands from the 'union' have been characteristics of Whole Foods since looonnngg before the aquisition. For example, unpaid paternity/maternity leave, no recognition of any holiday including federal - just 3 weeks of PTO used at your discretion, below market compensation, crappy benefits, calcified management, and the list goes on.
Most people work there because of the perceived culture of being free-spirit & hippy, but from my observation it's not that great of a place to build a career & wealth. Or perhaps it's par for the course and I'm just accustom to tech companies treating their people pretty well given how competitive the market is for top talent.
Source: I live in Austin with friends who work at the HQ.
Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
#185If they don't like working there, then they should go work somewhere else. It's still a free country... right???
They are also free to unionize, right?
Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
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, c…
> Unions should quite obviously have formed by now. Including the eng team. But the problem with unions is that over time they are corrupted, and quickly become inefficient bureaucratic institutions. I agree with your sentiment, but the reality is far murkier than that.
> But the problem with unions is that over time they are corrupted, and quickly become inefficient bureaucratic institutions.
Replace "unions" with "corporations" and the same is true.
Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment made me search for the nearest one. According to Google Maps, the nearest Whole Foods Market is over 10 hours away. I guess I'll shop Half Foods Market like I always do.
>10 hours away Time isn't a very good measure of distance
It's the best measure of distance in determining how far away a destination is.
Let's say you ask me where a store is, and I tell you it's only 500m away. "Great!", you think, "That's an easy walk!" No, it's not, because it's on the other side of a river, and there isn't a crossing particularly close. You'd much rather go to the store that's 1000m away because it's not across a river.
Now you're probably going to say, OK, so let's restrict it to actually allowable paths ... but again, something a few kilometers away that doesn't have good road connections (and the ones that do are full of traffic) is actually much farther away in every way that matters than something that's 10km away but is a straight shot on an empty highway. Urban environments are complicated, and distance doesn't tell you as much as travel time does.
Re: Whole Foods workers seek to unionize
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everything? No. Certain produce, bulk items, and white label products were cost competitive, and often cheaper, than regular groceries. At least that was true ~15 years ago when I used to shop there regularly, and save money, in the DC area.
Yes, WF prices are often cheaper for the exact same products vs. other stores, it's just that they also carry a more expensive organic natural chemical-free locally sourced indie niche upgrade of the same thing next to it.
I beg to differ. Below is my source that (I took the photos). $4 at Asian grocery store vs $10. Regular price at Asian store is $5 It's coffee from New Orleans, nothing exotic.