Workers and activists got on the bus June 30th to support workers’ rights all over the Portland area. In a meticulously planned and executed all day bus tour, supporters went to seven actions to support workers’ rights. June 30th was important because thousands of workers had collective bargaining agreements expiring that day.
150 union members and community supporters boarded three buses at 9:30 am. We joined other workers at each of the seven stops along the way. Every action had its own unique flavor and creative twist. In between stops, participants were briefed on the next struggle and got a chance to practice chants and songs.
The buses’ first stop was a Georgia Pacific facility, represented by the Inland Boatman’s Union/ILWU where contract talks have been stalled. The owners are the infamous Koch brothers, so a piece of the action was singing “I’d Like to Buy the Kochs a World”, as well as a delegation to the employer.
Stop 2 was the Vancouver, Washington Hilton hotel, across the river, where workers are trying to raise
Today, Jobs with Justice and the United Students against Sweatshops released an “investor alert” showing how Rite Aid’s mismanagement and corporate greed have contributed to the company’s poor performance during the past four years. The release of the investor alert coincides with Rite Aid’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 23 at the Hilton Hotel in Harrisburg, PA. The alert is available on the Jobs with Justice website here.
Jobs with Justice has been an active supporter of Rite Aid workers across the country who have struggled to form unions and to win union contracts. Over the last several years, Jobs with Justice has leafleted stores, met with store managers, sent emails to top Rite Aid executives, and held rallies in support Rite Aid workers in their local communities.
Rite Aid has been struggling to return to profitability since the disastrous acquisition of the Brooks and Eckerd chains in 2007, which left the company deeply in debt. Rite Aid has consistently under-performed its top competitors, CVS and Walgreens, and has reported losses in 15 straight quarters (results for the 16th quarter ended on 5/31, will be reported on June 23). Despite sagging share prices, Rite
Rite Aid Negotiating Committee after signing Tentative Agreement on May 1, 2011.Rite Aid workers at the company's massive Southwest Distribution Center in Lancaster declared victory on Sunday, May 1 in their five-year effort to form a union and improve working conditions.
Workers signed a 3-year tentative agreement with management on May 1 – subject to a May 12 ratification vote – that will improve conditions at the million-square-foot facility in California’s high desert by guaranteeing:
Health insurance rates that are fair for both individual workers and their families,
Job security provisions to prevent work from being sub-contracted,
A worker voice in production standards and ability to challenge unfair standards,
Protection against intense summer heat and winter cold, using innovative indoor-temperature standards,
A fair and impartial process for resolving disputes,
Wage increases in each of the next 3 years.
“We’re excited about winning this victory, even if it took longer than it should have,” said Carlos “Chico” Rubio, a 10-year warehouse worker who helped negotiate the union contract with a team of eight co-workers.
Last Friday, more than two dozen Rite Aid drugstores across the country had some unexpected visitors. Activists in 10 states converged on 30 stores on April 1 to protest the company’s unfair labor practices and management’s efforts to impose unaffordable healthcare costs on employees.
Workers at six Cleveland Rite Aid stores—whose employees are members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 880—have been on strike since March 14. After nearly a year of fruitless contract negotiations, the strike started because Rite Aid management committed dozens of unfair labor practices, violating members’ rights through illegal threats, harassment, retaliation, surveillance and refusing to bargain in good faith.
Rite Aid resorted to these illegal tactics in Ohio as part of a nationwide effort to convince workers to move into a more expensive company health insurance plan. Many Rite Aid retail employees are paid such low wages that if their union accepted Rite Aid’s plan, they would be forced to decline company coverage and instead rely on taxpayer provided benefits such as Medicaid for their medical needs.
Highlights from the Dec. 15 National Day of Action…
Over the past several years, Rite Aid executives have made a number of serious missteps that have hurt the company’s business. The nation’s third-largest retail drug store chain has not made a profit in more than three years, causing investors to suffer heavy losses. Instead of working with employees to help turn the company around, Rite Aid executives are trying to make workers pay for management’s mistakes. At Rite Aid locations across the country, the trend is same: the company is demanding concessions from hardworking employees, while increasing executive compensation.
For example, while CEO John Standley recently doubled his own compensation, Rite Aid is:
Proposing onerous health insurance hikes for workers in Northern Ohio, which may force them to strike;
Seeking huge increases in employees’ share of health insurance costs in Lancaster, CA where, for 2 ½ years, workers have been trying to get a fair labor agreement; and
Closing a unionized distribution center in Rome, NY and going non-union, leaving 400 employees without work.
The Coalition of Rite Aid Workers was formed to support employees at Rite Aid stores
Rite Aid employees backed by Jobs with Justice and other community supporters are organizing a nationwide “Day of Action” on Wednesday, December 15 to focus public attention on the company’s culture of corporate greed and its assault on workers’ living standards and job rights.
Dozens of actions are scheduled at Rite Aid locations across the country, including stores in California, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. At each store, Rite Aid customers will be informed about:
Rite Aid’s decision to hike its CEO’s compensation to $4.5 million despite the company’s poor performance.
The company’s effort to impose huge cost increases on workers for health insurance.
Rite Aid’s disturbing pattern of delays and difficulty in reaching fair agreements with workers.
The company’s conversion of good jobs into low-wage positions with few benefits and no rights on the job.
The nationwide actions were sparked by a rash of recent decisions by Rite Aid officials:
In Cleveland, OH, executives are trying to dramatically increase employee health care costs. The company announced plans to impose higher costs on Jan. 1 that could lead to a possible strike.
In Lancaster, CA, Rite Aid executives stalled talks with 500 warehouse employees for nearly
On Friday, April 16th, Jobs with Justice coalitions in Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Boston joined protesters in front of British Consulates in those cities to demand justice for 570 California miners who have been locked-out of work by the Rio Tinto mining corporation, a British-based mining conglomerate, since January 31, 2010 at the world’s 2nd largest borax mine in Boron, CA.
Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies, has a history of human rights abuses around the globe. In Boron, California, the company retaliated against employees, members of the ILWU, and instituted the “lock-out” after workers rejected a company ultimatum that included illegal contract demands and provisions allowing the company to convert good full-time jobs into part-time, temporary, and outsourced positions with little or no benefits.
“Today’s action was a powerful demonstration of solidarity by ILWU locals and other labor and social justice groups in the SF Bay Area for the mineworkers in Boron, which is in a relatively remote part of California,” said Gordon Mar of Jobs with Justice San Francisco.
Yet another example of why working people need the Employee Free Choice Act. In 2006, warehouse workers in Lancaster, CA decided they wanted to form a union. Despite the company’s attacks, a majority the of the workers voted to join ILWU Local 26 in March 2008. But more than a year later, the workers have not been able to negotiate a first contract.
Today, as these workers continue fighting for a contract, Jobs with Justice is releasing a report to tell their story. Rite Aid, Oliver J. Bell & Associates, and the Case for the Employee Free Choice Actdocuments how management employed union-busters and violated labor laws. Last year, the National Labor Relations Board was prepared to charge Rite Aid with 49 unfair labor practice charges before the cases were settled out of court.
Unfortunately, the problems faced by workers when they formed a union at Rite Aid are all-too-common. Profitable and unaccountable anti-union firms, like Oliver Bell and Associates, show companies how to manipulate and flout labor laws with little or no consequences.
The Employee Free Choice Act could make a huge difference
Yet another example of why working people need the Employee Free Choice Act. In 2006, warehouse workers in Lancaster, CA decided they wanted to form a union. Despite the company’s attacks, a majority the of the workers voted to join ILWU Local 26 in March 2008. But more than a year later, the 