On November 4, Bay Area voters raised minimum wages in San Francisco and Oakland. There were also successful campaigns to raise minimum wages in Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota. On November 6, workers at the San Francisco Whole Foods Market at 4th and Harrison Streets took the fight for fair wages to another level. Early that afternoon, a delegation of workers presented management with a demand for a $5-an-hour across-the-board wage increase for all employees and no retaliation for union organizing.

At the call of an air horn, a contingent of workers in the store stopped work and gathered at the café bar near the store’s entrance. Other Whole Foods workers, who were not on duty but who had infiltrated the store, joined them, along with a number of supporters. They then summoned the store manager. As workers and supporters gathered around, and customers looked on, long-time Whole Foods worker Nick announced to the assembled crowd, “We are the Industrial Workers of the World.” The workers ended the gathering with a demand for an answer by November 14, when their next paycheck is due. At that, on-the-clock workers returned to their jobs, while the other workers and their supporters exited the store, chanting “Si, Se Puede!”

On November 14, organized workers at Whole Foods Market will rally with supporters and call on the Regional President to respond at the Northern California Regional Office in Emeryville.

Read More | Whole Foods Workers Demand A Response From Regional Boss, November 14