Workers at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia voted to form a union, the first time employees of the Amazon-owned grocer have organized in decades. Monday’s vote, which passed 130-100, was prompted by workers’ push for higher wages and improved benefits.

Now, a battle lies ahead when working out the first contract between Whole Foods and the unionized workers. "This is going to be the longest uphill battle of our lives, but this is not just for us. This is for the people who come behind us and for the people who have been here," said Khy Adams, a Whole Foods employee.

The union win, at a Philadelphia store where workers are seeking higher wages, comes as Amazon is also fighting organizing efforts among some warehouse employees and delivery drivers.

Whole Foods workers at the Spring Garden store have expressed frustration about low pay and want better health-care benefits.

Whole Foods said it was "disappointed" by the vote but "committed to maintaining a positive working environment"

Workers voted 130-100 for union representation at the Center City in Philadelphia, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

The grocery chain’s store in Philadelphia becomes the first to join a union, where workers hope to expand organizing to other outlets and across the Amazon empire.

The unionization vote comes despite a “barrage of union-busting techniques, intimidation, threats, coercion” and wrongful firings, UFCW Local 1776 President Wendell Young IV said in an interview.

Workers at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia have voted to unionize under UFCW, making it the grocer’s first unionized location in decades, writes

Whole Foods workers at the Philly flagship store in Fairmount voted to unionize on Jan. 27. They are the first in the Amazon-owned grocery chain to do so.

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