{"id":63993,"date":"2026-01-28T15:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?post_type=press_releases&#038;p=63993"},"modified":"2026-01-28T15:51:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:51:31","slug":"amazon-fresh-closures","status":"publish","type":"press_releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/amazon-fresh-closures\/","title":{"rendered":"UFCW on Amazon Fresh Closures: \u201cThis business model was doomed from the beginning\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"heading\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw1776.org\/index.cfm?zone=\/unionactive\/view_article.cfm&amp;HomeID=980742\">Respecting Whole Foods Workers&#8217; Right to Organize Is Key for Amazon\u2019s Grocery Business Success<\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WASHINGTON \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Today, the\u00a0United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, including grocery workers at Whole Foods, released a statement in response to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/01\/27\/food\/amazon-fresh-go-closures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon\u2019s decision<\/a>\u00a0to close their Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go brick-and-mortar stores.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>UFCW International President Milton Jones&nbsp;said:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"quote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAmazon Fresh was built on a fundamentally flawed model that shortchanged both workers and customers. By investing heavily in technology rather than the workers who actually make stores successful, this business model was doomed from the beginning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe lesson from Amazon Fresh should have been clear: grocery stores succeed when workers are respected and valued. Instead, Amazon continues to move in the opposite direction.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMore than one year after Whole Foods workers in Philadelphia won their historic union election, the company is still fighting them at every turn. If Amazon is serious about building a successful grocery business, the path forward is clear. They must pay better wages and benefits and respect workers&#8217; right to organize.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">###<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in grocery, meatpacking, food processing, healthcare, cannabis, retail, and other essential industries. UFCW members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at\u202f<\/em><em><u><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ufcw.org\/\">ufcw.org<\/a><\/u><\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Respecting Whole Foods Workers&#8217; Right to Organize Is Key for Amazon\u2019s Grocery Business Success WASHINGTON \u2013\u00a0Today, the\u00a0United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, including grocery workers at Whole Foods, released a statement in response to\u00a0Amazon\u2019s decision\u00a0to close their Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go brick-and-mortar stores. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[449,13],"tags":[374],"class_list":["post-63993","press_releases","type-press_releases","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-official-statements","category-press-releases","tag-amazon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UFCW on Amazon Fresh Closures: \u201cThis business model was doomed from the beginning\u201d - The United Food &amp; Commercial Workers International Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UFCW released a statement in response to\u00a0Amazon\u2019s decision\u00a0to close their Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go brick-and-mortar stores.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/amazon-fresh-closures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UFCW on Amazon Fresh Closures: \u201cThis business model was doomed from the beginning\u201d - The United Food &amp; 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