Geriatric Punks

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Reply-To: John Mackey

Hi Team Members,

Most of you have heard by now that the Team Members in our store in
Madison, Wisconsin voted last Friday in favor of local union
representation. For me, this is a very sad chapter in the history of
Whole Foods Market. In the 24 years since I first started this
business, this is the first vote to allow union representation in any of
our stores. I firmly believe that this outcome was not a rejection of
the Whole Foods Market culture, but rather the direct result of the
failure of the previous store and regional leadership to walk our
talk--failure to follow the values of the Whole Foods culture as set
forth in the GIG. With a little more time, our Madison Team Members
would have come to trust the new regional and store leadership’s
commitment to our core values and this outcome could have been avoided.

I went to Madison last week to talk to the Team Members before the
election and also participated in a question & answer session at an
all-store meeting on Wednesday night. I felt like I had a good heart
connection with many Team Members there, but it was simply too little
too late. Too many people there have lost faith in our company and we
were not able to regain their trust in so little time.

Do not worry. Madison is a wakeup call for me and the rest of the Whole
Foods' leadership team. We are going to become even more Whole Foods
Market in the future than we already are! I promise you that I'm just
getting started. I have renewed energy to make Whole Foods Market a
better place to work. Madison made a mistake in their choice. It may
take time for them to realize it but I believe that they eventually
will. We all make many mistakes in life. It is all part of our growth
process because that is how we learn, that is how we grow.

When confronted by great stress in life we have but only 2 choices:
1. Contract into fear
2. Expand into love

When an event such as the Madison union election occurs the temptation
to contract into fear and anger is very powerful. Love and forgiveness
are the more difficult choices to make. Whole Foods Market isn't about
fear and anger, however, so we must collectively make the more
difficult choice and choose love. This is what I choose and I urge you
to make this same choice.

Thank you so very much for all that you do.

Love,
John