Whole Foods picks a fight with Canadian veterans

[gowlerk 1,902]

In Canada a large part of how we mark Remembrance Day on Nov. 11 is to wear a small poppy pin. It is nearly universal. Whole Foods, which apparently has stores in Canada has unwisely decided to ban it's employees from wearing them. Something about it's uniform code. This has prompted an immediate and large scale uproar with talk of a boycott and a promise from the Ontario premier to introduce legislation. Right now. I'm sure it will pass unanimously if it comes to that. Meanwhile the House of Commons has already adopted by unanimous consent a resolution condemning the action.

So far Whole Foods in it's "corporate wisdom" has doubled down. I am expecting a reversal before the end of the day. Canadians will not tolerate this.

From a news report:

Members of the House of Commons unanimously condemned the ban on Friday, adopting a motion “to condemn Whole Foods and its owner Jeff Bezos for banning its employees from wearing poppies on their uniform, and demand that the policy be reversed immediately.”

They also adopted another motion unanimously inviting John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, to appear before the House of Commons veterans affairs committee within the next two weeks.

The order means that Mackey, an American, either must appear voluntarily or else run the risk that the committee will issue a formal summons to be delivered by bailiff next time he sets foot in Canada.

Edited November 6, 2020 by gowlerk

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

15 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

In Canada a large part of how we mark Remembrance Day on Nov. 11 is to wear a small poppy pin. It is nearly universal. Whole Foods, which apparently has stores in Canada has unwisely decided to ban it's employees from wearing them. Something about it's uniform code. This has prompted an immediate and large scale uproar with talk of a boycott and a promise from the Ontario premier to introduce legislation. Right now. I'm sure it will pass unanimously if it comes to that. Meanwhile the House of Commons has already adopted by unanimous consent a resolution condemning the action.

So far Whole Foods in it's "corporate wisdom" has doubled down. I am expecting a reversal before the end of the day. Canadians will not tolerate this.

From a news report:

Members of the House of Commons unanimously condemned the ban on Friday, adopting a motion “to condemn Whole Foods and its owner Jeff Bezos for banning its employees from wearing poppies on their uniform, and demand that the policy be reversed immediately.”

They also adopted another motion unanimously inviting John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, to appear before the House of Commons veterans affairs committee within the next two weeks.

The order means that Mackey, an American, either must appear voluntarily or else run the risk that the committee will issue a formal summons to be delivered by bailiff next time he sets foot in Canada.

Hi Ken,

Re:  'So far Whole Foods in it's "corporate wisdom" has doubled down.'

Everyone makes mistakes.  The above quote is the really stupid part.

Jerry Baumchen

[ryoder 1,380]

It's good to know everything is running so smoothly in Jeff's business that he has time to focus on such trivial matters!

[SkyDekker 1,120]

Really is a stupid stance to take for Whole Foods, lacking any nuance or thought.

[gowlerk 1,902]

4 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

Really is a stupid stance to take for Whole Foods, lacking any nuance or thought.

After doing a little research I think they must not be in tune with the culture here. They miscalculated because they believe that wearing a poppy is a political statement of some kind. They were involved in a controversy this year over not allowing BLM masks to be worn by employees. They took a stand that they would not allow their employees to make any such statements while on the job. They don't understand that wearing a poppy at this time of year is normal here and that not wearing one is more likely to be making a statement.

Edited November 6, 2020 by gowlerk

[SkyDekker 1,120]

2 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

After doing a little research I think they must not be in tune with the culture here. They miscalculated because they believe that wearing a poppy is a political statement of some kind. They were involved in a controversy this year over not allowing BLM masks to be worn by employees. They took a stand that they would not allow their employees to make any such statements while on the job. They don't understand that wearing a poppy at this time of year is normal here and that not wearing one is more likely to be making a statement.

Yup, hence the comment about lacking nuance and thought. It is the typical "all or nothing" stance taken to try and avoid any form of critical thinking. It allows the corporation to blame a policy and with that try to appeal to multiple sides.

[gowlerk 1,902]

1 minute ago, SkyDekker said:

It allows the corporation to blame a policy and with that try to appeal to multiple sides.

I wonder if they will stick their noses into the white poppy controversy next!

[SkyDekker 1,120]

They have now altered their position and will be allowing poppies to be worn by their staff.

[wmw999 2,116]

I guess they had to be slapped before being handed the clue...

Wendy P.

[headoverheels 291]

40 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

They have now altered their position and will be allowing poppies to be worn by their staff.

I think that they should go further.

 

[gowlerk 1,902]

Hell, I think she is cute enough to have more than enough "flair" for that place!

[ryoder 1,380]

1 hour ago, headoverheels said:

I think that they should go further.

 

LOL! This is exactly what I thought about when I read the original post.

[Westerly 61]

Canada has a military? What do they even do?

[gowlerk 1,902]

1 hour ago, Westerly said:

Canada has a military? What do they even do?

They used to fight nazis. Without waiting for Japan to attack first. Unlike “America firsters”.

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

53 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

They used to fight nazis. Without waiting for Japan to attack first. Unlike “America firsters”.

Hi Ken,

When I started jumping ( 1964 ) there was a guy, jumper/pilot, who went to Canada & joined your armed forces to fight the Germans before the US got into the war.

Jerry Baumchen

[Westerly 61]

1 hour ago, gowlerk said:

They used to fight nazis. Without waiting for Japan to attack first. Unlike “America firsters”.

So fighting Nazis was their most recent mission?

Edited November 7, 2020 by Westerly

[kallend 1,620]

8 hours ago, Westerly said:

So fighting Nazis was their most recent mission?

But it now appears that this year they won't have to burn the White House as US voters have thrown out the head US Nazi.

[gowlerk 1,902]

10 minutes ago, kallend said:

But it now appears that this year they won't have to burn the White House as US voters have thrown out the head US Nazi.

And along with the leader goes Eichmann. Oopps....I mean Miller.

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

10 hours ago, gowlerk said:

They used to fight nazis. Without waiting for Japan to attack first. Unlike “America firsters”.

Don't ignore the fact that Canadian troops comprise a large percentage of UN peacekeeping forces.

'Cuz you darned Canucks are such nice fellas, Eh.

[Phil1111 908]

15 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

And along with the leader goes Eichmann. Oopps....I mean Miller.

I'm sure his job application will be forthcoming to the next GOP political hopeful.

[ScottishJohn 25]

On 11/7/2020 at 5:06 AM, Westerly said:

So fighting Nazis was their most recent mission?

Im pretty sure they had troops in Bush's Gulf War

[gowlerk 1,902]

3 hours ago, ScottishJohn said:

Im pretty sure they had troops in Bush's Gulf War

Canada said “thanks, but no thanks” to participating in the neo-con effort to transform Iraq. We were all in for the more justified Afghanistan war.

[ScottishJohn 25]

22 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

Canada said “thanks, but no thanks” to participating in the neo-con effort to transform Iraq. We were all in for the more justified Afghanistan war.

Thanks for the correction. 

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

5 hours ago, ScottishJohn said:

Im pretty sure they had troops in Bush's Gulf War

Apparently not.

Lots and lots of UN operations. Many folks think the UN is just a big clusterfuck (and there's a fair amount of justification for that), but there are a LOT of places that have UN troops in place to monitor peace agreements.
As I noted above, Canadian troops have played a pretty big part in that for a while.

One good reason is because many of the places they are deployed to have a long history of the military being used by the government to oppress the locals. 

Or the troops exploiting and abusing the locals in lieu of actual pay.

Wiki list (OIF is not included):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_military_operations

[SkyDekker 1,120]

On 11/6/2020 at 9:06 PM, Westerly said:

So fighting Nazis was their most recent mission?

Stunningly enough we don’t ascribe to the notion that killing people is wonderful. 
 

America, fuck yeah.