On Aug. 11, Chief Executive Officer of organic food retail giant Whole Foods, John Mackey, published an article in the Wall Street Journal lambasting a worker’s right to health care. This most recent attack made by the virulently anti-union CEO set off a wave of boycotts across the country.
Quoting conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Mackey argued that a right to healthcare does not exist. “A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This ‘right’ has never existed in America.”
Mackey, like other capitalist vultures, never has to worry about access to health care. In 2005 alone, Mackey was paid $2.7 million in salary and stock options, with another $4.4 million in vested options.
Nevertheless, most workers cannot afford quality health care. In Florida, for example, average family health insurance premiums have increased 98.1 percent since 2000, four times faster than wages.
