Workers at the Whole Foods in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia have voted to unionize, becoming the first store in the company to do so.

The store will have 300 union employees, and 230 of them voted in the election Monday, said Wendell Young IV, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 1776, with 130 in favor of unionizing.

The National Labor Relations Board now has to certify the election, a process which takes about three weeks, Young said.

“This fight is far from over, but today’s victory is an important step forward,” Young said. “We are ready to bring Whole Foods to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair first contract that reflects the workers’ needs and priorities.”

A spokesperson for Whole Foods said in a statement that the company “is proud to offer competitive compensation, great benefits, and career advancement opportunities to all team members. We are disappointed by the outcome of this election, but we are committed to maintaining a positive working environment in our Philly Center City store.”

As they took the first steps to unionize late last year, Whole Foods employees expressed frustration with their working conditions and wages, which left them feeling they can’t even afford to shop in the store where they work. They also want better health care benefits.

Whole Foods is “making billions of dollars in profits, and they’re not paying us a living wage,” Ben Lovett, who has worked at the store since March 2023 and makes an hourly wage of around $16.80, said in November.

They join a wave of organizing efforts by pockets of workers at large retail companies, including Whole Foods parent company Amazon, where distribution-center workers have called for better working conditions and some have initiated unionizing campaigns in recent years.

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