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

Continue reading Portland Rising Bus Tour Supports Workers’ Rights

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

Continue reading Mismanagement & Corporate Greed Plague Rite Aid

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:

“We’re excited about winning this victory, even if it took longer than it should have,” said Carlos “Chico” Rubio, a

Continue reading Rite Aid workers win 5-year campaign to form union at giant Rite Aid distribution center

Cross-posted from In These Times.

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

Continue reading Rite Aid Workers’ Strike in Cleveland Sparks Nationwide Protest

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:

The nationwide actions were sparked by a rash of recent decisions by Rite Aid officials: