Unions call for Whole Foods CEO’s resignation

New York City Citing his position on healthcare reform as reason, unions called for Whole Foods’ CEO John Mackey’s resignation on Tuesday.

The union outcry is in direct response to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Mackey in which he wrote that healthcare reform is necessary but that "the last thing our country needs is a massive new healthcare entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our healthcare system." The CtW Investment Group, a part of the Change to Win federation of unions that advocates on behalf of workers' investments in pension funds, said in a statement that it is calling on the Whole Foods board to remove Mackey as chairman and find a new CEO.

"Mr. Mackey attempted to capitalize on the brand reputation of Whole Foods to champion his personal political views, but has instead deeply offended a key segment of Whole Foods consumer base," CtW Investment Group's executive director Bill Patterson said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which is part of Change to Win, said it will be giving out information to Whole Foods shoppers about healthcare reform. The group said Mackey's op-ed was an "attempt to undermine Obama's healthcare reform."