User Profile
Sci-fi, AV Minutemen, Organizing the Rite Aid Distribution Center with the International Longshor...
» View chico351's profile
» Send Private Message
» Add to Friends
Search
Blog Viewer
Inside Rite Aid (ILWU)
Tuesday, October 02 2007 - 08:16 PM
Let's get it on!
This will be the unofficial blogsite for anyone interested in what’s going on at the Rite Aid Distribution Center. We have been trying to organize with the ILWU for a year now, and Rite Aid has broken the law by violating our section 8 rights. Rite Aid has put on a “new face” in the warehouse and is trying to portray a caring employer, but we know the truth. Comments?
Denisebme says...
Good for you. Just a warning though, this blog can be pretty anti-union.
( send private message )
poof1967 says...
Did they correct the environmental conditions in the warehouse and provide cooling this summer?
( send private message )
Tom Swift says...
We should not have to apologize for a living wage and benefits like health care for jobs that cannot be outsourced. Our middle class needs support!
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
If you don’t like where you work then quit. If every one doesn’t like where they work for rite aid then they should all quit. If every one quits then Rite Aid will either get the picture that things are wrong or hire some one else that is willing to work within there terms.
( send private message )
Redflag says...
Section 8 has many subsections, Matthew, but it is basically a federal law which (LOL) prohibits capitalists from engaging in “unfair labor practices” (e.g., “employer coercion, interference [or] restraint”) vis-a-vis those wage slaves who dare seek to organize themselves. I wrote “LOL” because the National Labor Relations Board or “NLRB” (from which this legislation sprang) has long been but another illustration of the proverbial fox guarding the proverbial henhouse. That, coupled with the fact that capitalists always enjoy far more power than do workers in this always adversarial relationship – in this bit of the class struggle, renders Section 8 and all other such laws largely meaningless.
Nonetheless, chico351, I stand in solidarity with you as well as with all of our brothers and sisters in your struggle against Rite Aid.
Persevere.
Guy
Member at large:
Socialist Labor Party of America (est. 1890)
http:www.slp.org/
Member (since 1984): United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Local 1036, Bakersfield.
I’m out.
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
This is why work gets out sourced, to many demands on the employer. If people don’t go to work for any company that isn’t paying fairly then they will go broke from lack of workers or out source their work. Unions in many cases have over priced the market place where these companies either have to raise their prices or see their companies go under. Rite Air next when put their warehouse in Mexico and then no one will have a job.
( send private message )
mattkeltner says...
Hobalong says…
This is why work gets out sourced, to many demands on the employer.
I never knew that making sure the temperature was correctly set in a warehouse was such a strenuous demand?
(
send private message
)
Underdog says...
Indeed, the whole temperature inside the warehouse conflict is untenable from my view. It is a justice issue, and a health issue as well to those working there. Any employer who seeks to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah chapter 6, verse 8, New International Version of the Bible) would take care of the cooling and heating issue and make it a non-issue. I rest my case!
( send private message )
Bill Parris says...
351, good luck, you might want to check with the SEIU who just organized the A.V. Hospital Workers. Matt is right, the A.V. is a very anti union town.
( send private message )
Ray Cunneff says...
I remember when this blogger first called the radio station to tell us about the working conditions at the Rite-Aid distribution center.
I spoke to a spokesperson for Rite-Aid and, while he had an explanation for each allegation, he did not deny they existed.
Why wasn’t a large warehouse in the high desert climate properly heated and air-conditioned? He said air-conditioning was too expensive and not as efficient as the swamp coolers they had installed. Unfortunately, the swamp coolers weren’t working properly. He never addressed the heating issue.
He didn’t deny the short bathroom and lunch breaks or the mandatory overtime with same-day notice, simply saying that the job conditions were explained fully on the date of hire.
He also suggested that the workforce was lazy and could find many places in the huge warehouse to hide during unauthorized breaks.
I take no position on the union one way or another. But I disagree with the premise that “if you don’t like it, quit”.
First of all, jobs are not that easy to come by at this skill-level, especially one that is reasonably well-paying. More to the point, the working conditions described and acknowledged seem to me not only unnecessary and inhumane, but bad business.
Disgruntled employees tend to have no loyalty to the employer, high absence and turnover rates (a significant expense by itself), increased medical costs and poor productivity.
The attitude at Rite-Aid sounded to me more like the sweat-shops of another century than anything resembling modern business theory.
Or… it’s just another example of the new corporate mindset we see in the multi-nationals – greed gone crazy.
(
send private message
)
Martel says...
Hob, bull shit, the demands being made on rite aid are bare mininum, people deserve decent working conditions, if corporations were not so greedy you would not need unions.
( send private message )
Redflag says...
Underdog: “Any employer who seeks to ‘act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’...would take care of the cooling and heating issue and make it a non-issue.”
Yes, but to capitalists the true, only and omnipotent god is the God of Capital.
In his the Religion of Capital; A Satirical Exposure of Capital’s Claims to Sanctity (1913), the playful French socialist Paul LaFargue wrote (in part):
“Proverbs.
“1. The sailor is assailed by storms, the miner is exposed to explosions and landslides, the tolilers in factories are in danger from the wheels of the machine; everywhere the wage-slaves are threatened with death and mutilation. The Capitalist, being an idler, is protected from all such accidents.
“2. Labor racks and kills, but does not enrich. Riches are not gotten by personal labor, but by causing others to labor.
“3. Property is the fruit of labor and the reward of idleness.
“4. Wine is not squeezed out of stones, nor Profits out of a corpse; only the quick are fit subjects for exploitation. The hangman, who dispatches a criminal, cheats the Capitalist of a subject of exploitation.
“5. Benevolence draws no interest.
“6. When you lay yourself down to sleep, it is better to be able to say: ‘I have done good business’ than ‘I have done a good deed.’” [Heating, air-conditioning, etc., etc., be damned!]
“7. The capitalist who causes his workingmen to work fourteen out of twenty-four hours has not wasted his day.
“8. Spare neither the good nor the poor workingman; the good horse needs the spur as well as the poor”... [” Work quickly, wage slaves! Quickly! Work harder, wage slaves! Harder!].
Yours in revolution
Guy
( send private message )
Underdog says...
Hmmm. . . Guy, you don’t have to be a capitalist to be a business owner in this culture and society (though understanding capitalism would help, of course).
Here’s a startling thought. . . hold onto your morning coffee! What if certain business owners didn’t worship the Almighty Dollar, and worshipped the one true and living God, the Creator of the Universe, in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts chapter 17, verse 28, New International Version of the Bible)?
Ever read the best selling novel in the English language of all time, “In His Steps” by Charles Sheldon? Give it a read sometime. . . in it, you will find those “capitalists” you detest so much turning their lives over to the living God, Jesus Christ, and radically changing how they live every aspect of their lives, including their business lives and decisions on how to run their businesses. A real eye opener!
(
send private message
)
Martel says...
Have we really come to this point in this country?less than ten miles from one of the hottest parts of the state a corporation with over 500 stores nationwide is denying there employees a cool work enviroment. enough is enough
( send private message )
mattkeltner says...
Shopping Your Politics
By Alan Abramowitz
With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of who we patronize relative to their Election Cycle political donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics.
WITH US:- Price Club/Costco donated $225K, of which 99% went to Democrats;
- Rite Aid, $517K, 60% to Democrats;
- Magla Products (Stanley tools, Mr. Clean), $22K, 100% to Democrats;
- Warnaco (undergarments), $55K, 73% to Democrats;
- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, $153K, 99% to Democrats;
- Estee Lauder, $448K, 95% to Democrats;
- Guess ? Inc., $145K, 98% to Democrats;
- Calvin Klein, $78K, 100% to Democrats;
- Liz Claiborne, Inc., $34K, 97% to Democrats;
- Levi Straus, $26K, 97% to Democrats;
- Olan Mills, $175K, 99% to Democrats.
- Gallo Winery, $337K, 95% to Democrats;
- Southern Wine & Spirits, $213K, 73% to Democrats;
- Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons (includes beverage business, plus considerable media interests), $2M+, 67% Democrats.
- Sonic Corporation, $83K, 98% Democrat;
- Triarc Companies (Arby’s, T.J. Cinnamon’s, Pasta Connections), $112K, 96% Democrats;
- Hyatt Corporation, $187K, 80% to Democrats;
AGAINST US:
WalMart, $467K, 97% to Republicans;
K-Mart, $524K, 86% to Republicans;
Home Depot, $298K, 89% to Republicans;
Target, $226K, 70% to Republicans;
Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to Republicans;
3M Co., $281K, 87% to Republicans;
Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to Republicans;
Amway, $391K, 100% Republican;
Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% Republicans;
B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to Republicans;
Proctor & Gamble, $243K, 79% to Republicans;
Coors, $174K, 92% to Republicans; (also Budweiser – sd)
Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel wines – as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644, 80% to Republicans;
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% Republican;
Outback Steakhouse, $641K, 95% Republican;
Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), $133K, 87% Republican;
Brinker International (Maggiano’s, Brinker Cafe, Chili’s, On the
Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel’s, Corner Bakery, EatZis), $242K, 83% Republican;
Waffle House, $279K, 100% Republican;
McDonald’s Corp., $197K, 86% Republican;
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze), $121K, 89% Republican;
Mariott International, $323K, 81% to Republicans;
Holiday Inns, $38K, 71% to Republicans
(
send private message
)
No Spin says...
Matthew…
WITH US and AGAINST US?
You are a Democrat?? Wow.. I thought your were Green? When did you switch?
:-)
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
Martel, it is up to the employee to either quit working in a place they don’t like and knew about the conditions going in or to live with. If every one in the place doesn’t like the condition and feel the same about it I beleive if they all walked out something would be done about it. It seems if the working conditions were so bad that these people were dropping over from heat the matter would have been brought up with OSA or some health agency. It also seems that if the building was built to have people working in it,then the city should have stepped in, in plan check and said where is the cooling system that is big enought to be uses to employ people. I can’t beieve if this was such a big problem then there are agencies set up to take care of these things. Its not the union if its health issues or safety issues its other agencies that need to be called. It seems to me that not long ago in a great country called America we didn’t even have air conditioning and people worked. There are people that work where the equipment generates all kind of heat and men and women still work there. I would think the building is insulated in the first place from the outside heat. Men and women work every day outside in over a 100 degree weather without air conditioning so what do we do about them? Make the companies supply portable units to blow on them while they work. All kinds of warehouses across the united states don’t have cooling in them. But if the temperure in the warehouse pose a health rish I’m sure they would have been shut down by now. Call OSA if it seems to be a health threat, or look for a nice air conditioned job some where else.
( send private message )
Underdog says...
No, Matt. . . it’s not about mere politics. It’s about Justice. Eternal Justice from the living God.
When you are talking about an issue such as heating and cooling in a human work environment, it’s not mere mortal man’s politics.
Please reread my posts to this blog.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
There is no such thing as political independence. You are either part of one ideology or another. You can be effective or not. Independent never, because to get anything done, such as building roads or providing mental health care requires you to ban together with like minded people. After you finally figure that out, you must decide how much of your ideology you want to impose on others because of your majority.
Dems seek nannism, Republicans think you can achieve if left alone. Course you got to take some bad with the good. That means if left alone you either achieve or fail depending on your ability.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
The theme of this blog being about labor unionism shows that some view independence as a bad thing. A labor union is a brotherhood willing to have all members sacrifice for future gains. Like a father/mother will sacrifice for his families future well-being. Any labor group that unionizes will suffer in the short-term and in the long-term the company will be in trouble such as General Motors is now. It is a good example of banning together to destroy the hand that feeds you. It also shows how some will totally give up independence for safety and comfort.
( send private message )
Underdog says...
Randy, excellent observations on your last post here.
Here’s a radical thought: what if the company owners sacrificed for the good of their employees? What if the employees would be so full of gratitude that they would likewise sacrifice back and productivity would rise dramatically? What if? Think about it. . .
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
UD your thought is well-taken but, humans are by nature lazy. Fill their belly and they go to sleep. Nothing would get done, as they would wait to be told what to do.
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
You have that right Randy, they do go to sleep.
( send private message )
Underdog says...
True, Randy. . . but what if humans were to seek to please the one true and living God, who seeks their good and well being, and would view the nature of work as a way to please and honor the true and living God?
John Calvin, founder of the Presbyterian Church and Reformed faith, wrote as much. Check it out!
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
UD you forget the number one reason we have government, because men are not angels.
If, when, maybe, we are no different than the crowd that wanted Brabus instead of Jesus freed.
Our mob mentality isn’t sufficiently evolved, and I think even if Jesus walked out of cloud in front of a TV audience that everyone in the world saw, many would still not believe. Like Lazarus said, God sent Moses, and Elijah and still they did not believe.
(
send private message
)
crawwills says...
I’ll admit it – I voted for Bush in the last election. I voted for Clinton the first time because I thought he was the best choice. The second because I thought he was the lesser of two evils. I voted for Gore in 2000 and after his behavior over the election, I was glad he didn’t win. It wasn’t stolen and he and a bunch of others acted like a bunch of crybabies. After 911, I was glad Gore didn’t win (for by the way, he probably would be much more likely to launch that nuke then people think). And in the last election, I voted for Bush – because the democrats didn’t put forth a candidate that was worth me hiring to clean the litter box of my cats. I’m not embarassed. I’m not stupid. I thought he was the best choice but I would of preferred another.
I don’t think he is God. I don’t think he is Satan. I think he has his faults. I think he has his good points. I think he is human like the rest of us and I think he is a policitican like the rest.
But, I have the capability of thinking for myself.
And, as for unions – most unions are no longer there to protect the poor downtrodden workers but there to protect those who do not do their job and want to keep their job while taking away all incentive for those who like to give 100% from doing so. They are also there to make money for their leaders. Please note I said most.
Employers do have to provide basic work conditions and there are laws to cover breaks and such. Call and report them to the proper authorities. But I would assume that working in a warehouse especially a shipping warehouse comes with certain said conditions which would probably include heat, dust, and heavy lifting – just my guess. As long as the heat isn’t extreme and all proper safety measures are in place and being followed and you agreed to those conditions upon hire then I don’t think any great evil has been done.
At one time, my husband was laid off and didn’t have a pot to pee in and he went to work for a company that had very unsafe working conditions that violated all kinds of laws. He walked out after one day and had to tough it out until he could find something else. It wasn’t easy but he did it. He didn’t have a family though so that makes a difference.
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
WOW! Look what I get for going away for a few days. So many comments and not enough time to read them all. Sorry, I’ll get to them. I just wanted to post an update on the campaign, but first let me answer something: Someone had asked why I just don’t quit if I’m so unhappy. Well, I’ve put almost 7 years at Rite Aid, and it wasn’t always so bad. Why would I quit now and start a base salary all over again somewhere else? Rite Aid has always made promises of conditions getting better at the workplace, but every year it got worse. Sure, it’s always been hot in the summer time and cold in the winter and we’ve been complaining about that since day one but this year Rite Aid implemented a heat index standard, allowing us to take extra 5 minute breaks when the temp got between 90 and 100 and 10 minute breaks for temps over 100 INSIDE THE WAREHOUSE. Could it be a coincidence that this happened after we brought this issue out publicly? In the middle of a Union campaign? After 8 years of business they decided that something needed to be done? Hmmm.
Anyway, after Rite Aid settled on the 49 ULP’s (unfair labor practice charges) that the NLRB was ready to indict them on, Rite Aid started something they had never done before since opening the building: hiring employees DIRECTLY off the street! For 7 years, Rite Aid employees went through (at least) 3 months through their temp agency and, once employees got hired on with Rite Aid, they went through a 60-day probationary period. Could Rite Aid be “stacking the deck” for the long-awaited election? Soon after the settlement (which included rehiring 2 union supporters with back pay btw), Rite Aid started proclaiming that they were anxious to have this election over and done with before the busy Xmas season began. My understanding is that, in NLRB elections, it’s usually the company that STALLS the election so they could have more time for intimidation and for the employees to jus lose intrest in the whole thing. Then they started their direct new-hire campaign. So far they have hired over 300 of them (don’t know how many are left), and the orientation classes are still going on. Something fishy here, I think.
So, the organizing committee asked the ILWU to file charges to have the NLRB investigate it. We are also filing charges because Rite Aid took away our benefit of being able to preschedule days off.
More to come…and thanks for your comments and support. Even the negative ones are welcome…This is still America, right?
Peace!
(
send private message
)
138hwy says...
You Union people are sick. Here it is, a company gives you a job, and you want to crucify them because you poor babies are “too hot or too cold.”
Rite Aid should fire the lot of you as you are all overpaid to begin with. A company hires you and you do this to them??
Shame on you!!
( send private message )
138hwy says...
351…Put my blog in your “personnel file” and show to Rite Aid corporation, if you dare. You won’t, because you union jerks only care about screwing a “big pockets” company.
In the first place, Rite Aid was quite amiss in hiring your kind from the beginning.
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
Martel, I’m still waiting on my up side down cake. But I will let you know how good it was just as soon as she makes it.
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
You are so right 138 these people don’t know when they have it good. Many don’t have a job and their bills are piling up. So many people work outside in over a 100 degree weather, in the blowing sand and are happy they have a job. Those warehouses are all cooler than the outside temp. They are insulated and shaded. These people don’t have to work in the blowing sand or anything else. Poor things they get hot, I really feel for them. The work they do is so hard inside that warehouse. Try taking a job digging outside in over 100 degree you cry babies. Believe me if there was any real problem with the temp. inside those warehouses OSA would be all over them. How about working in a steel mill with blast furnaces, you want to talk about hot, you don’t know what working in a place thats hot is all about. Don’t like the place then quit, you do have a choice.
( send private message )
chico351 says...
Excuse me, Hobalong and 138, but do you work there? If you do, maybe you’re in one of those nice air conditioned/heated offices. If I were working outside in those temps, I would be making a hell of a lot more than what I do now…oh, I forgot those are union jobs! Silly me! I might be happy if the anti-union govt stopped raising the costs of gas, utilities and my mortagage wasn’t so high. Family is supposed to be more important than anything, yet you have parents working 2 jobs just to make ends meet. Don’t you eber wonder why the Youth is what it is today? These white-collar people are just S.O.B.’s (Servants of Business) and don’t give a rat’s ass about those that work for them. And btw, 138hwy, this blog is open to everyone. Even to the unfortunately misinformed people like you and Hobalong. People need to start waking up to what’s happeneing to our country before it’s too late…and we’re almost at the point of no return. What’s happening at Rite Aid is not just local. If it weren’t for unions we wouldn’t even have 5-day work weeks, vacation and sick pay, and many other benefits the workforce enjoy today. Hell, I don’t even get sick pay!
Peace!
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
I have worked in just about every condition, workers now days are spoiled. The union at one time was a good thing now all it does is cause jobs to go overseas and to Mexico. You have a job, you work in the shade and others wotk out in the wind and the heat. If you don’t like the place you work quite or shut up. People all over America work in a lot worse conditions than a large insulated warehouse. You don’t know what hot is or for that matter probably real work.
( send private message )
No Spin says...
Chico.. Do you have any idea how many Strikes because of Unions have caused companies to go out of Business??
I have been working for 35 years, never for a Union, and I have done very well for MYSELF..I don’t need someone to negoitiate for me… I earn my money thru MY Negotiating with a company wanting to hire me using my performance as muscle to earn more money..
I can tell you that My Sister and her Husband have suffered at the hands of His Union over the years.. Out of work for months over a $1.00 an hour, etc. because someone else decided to strike..
He started his own Company in order to stop getting Strangled by HIS Union..
Unions were needed for years, but I am not so sure anymore.
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
No Spin you have it right, if you are a good worker and know your job you sure don’t need a union holding you back. I once was in the union and got out and made so much more money. I control who I work for and where not a union. These people go on strike and lose all kinds of money to increase there pay like you said a $1.00 or two and will take years to ever make up what they lose going on strike. But the ones that gain are the union bosses they get paid for every day the union members don’t. They also get the raises thanks to the union workers getting the raise for them.
( send private message )
chico351 says...
Again, misinformed. Unions don’t cause strikes! A strike has to be voted on by union members, mostly arising from not being able to work out agreements with the company. The Unions don’t receive dues when their workers are on strike, so why would they stop employees from working? No Spin, I agree with what you say about performance…you have no idea what the conditions are like in RA. They don’t care about how hard you work or what experience you have there. Before this, the longest it took me to advance in a company was almost a year. I’ve been there 7 and have watched unqualified snot-noses get put in positions over (not just me) more qualified candidates. I’m older now and times have changed! If I was 10 years younger, I would have left RA a long time ago…now, I’m committed!
Yes, Unions were needed for years and I’m sure there are good and bad things about them. As a whole, maybe unions are a bad thing for some companies, but RA is in desperate need for employee-reform and they’ve had 8 years to do it. They’ve tried changing management more than once, but they all must have went to the same school. A union IS what’s needed there.
(
send private message
)
No Spin says...
What about all the OTHERS not in the union these STRIKES affect???
Tell you what Chico.. Come November 1st, when the AMPTP and the Writers Guild Strike, tell me what the UNION is going to do for the OTHERS, NOT in the damn union who will not be able work?
Are they going to help the people who work in the same industry but are not member of the AMPTP or Writers Guild put food on the table for their kids??
Tell me.. Will the union help them too??
NO.. People get thrown to waste bins like trash because SOME think they Deserve MORE $$...
My Brother in Law could not work for 3 months because of a Grocers strike Many many years ago.. He did not work for the Stores, but when they struck and people stopped comming to the stores, the distributors, etc.. had to cut back..
And he was one of the ones they cut back because he was new..SO he, my sister and my 2 nieces, who were just babies then, sufferred miserably..
(
send private message
)
RealSteve says...
Chico,
Please let me know when you get ready to go on strike. I know some people looking for jobs, and nothing like applying for jobs at a place when a Union marches the lemmings over the cliff.
(
send private message
)
No Spin says...
Me too Chico..I Know a father of 2 babies, who WOULD love to work for more than the hourly wage he is currently making..without MEDICAL BENEFITS..
If he could make enough money he might be able to not shop at the Thrift Store next time his kids need clothes..
Let me know where to send him and when..
Thanks
(
send private message
)
RealSteve says...
No Spin
Wondering aloud if our resident socalist, Mr. RedRag honored the picket lines when his brothers from the grocery stores went over the cliff last time. Stater Bros signed a sweetheart deal, so I guess he did not have to face the choice of going out or not.
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
No spin, maybe the “others” you talk about SHOULD organize too! A strike doesn’t just happen overnight, my friends. If a company can show documents that sustain their claims that “more” cannot be possible, why would union members cut their own throats insisting on bettering themselves? RA rakes in way too much to be handing us scraps. Why is the concept asking for a fair share so alien to you? And, again, I say to you that my interest in organizing RA doesn’t only come from trying to make more MONEY. There are people who work there that make less than I do. I don’t expect you to understand; you don’t work there!
For the record, I am not a socialist.
If there ever is a strike at the warehouse, you’re all bound to hear about it…send them on over! It is still a free country!
Peace!
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
138hwy, you seem to think that having a job in the United States is a privilege. I always thought it is the RIGHT of every abled body person to work and pay taxes! Yeah, us “union people” ARE sick…sick and tired of all the bull at Rite Aid! No! I will not quit and conform to what they give me; I will fight for my American- and God-given rights! If you choose to lay down as a conformist, that’s your decision. If you’re happy where you’re at, good for you…I commend you! You deserve it just as much as anyone else who works for a living.
Peace!
(
send private message
)
138hwy says...
Truer words were never spoken!! A privilege to work in the USA and surely not a “right”. If someone hires you, honor them and thank them and be grateful that you work in the greatest country ever known.
I think that no spin said it nicely. Unions used to have a purpose, but that was eons ago.
( send private message )
No Spin says...
Ok.. I give up. Chico wants EVERY worker in the USA to be part of a Union..
His response to the “Little People” who get swallowed up in any skirmish a union they are NOT IN designs is CREATE your own UNION! In my Brother In Laws Case, he was in a UNION, but when the UNION he was NOT in decided to strike, his JOB was affected and he was layed off!!
If you do not like RA - quit!
BTW: Both my sons have worked at RA and NEVER Complained to me ONCE about the conditions.. One worked there for over a year and the other for 6 months..Both of them enjoyed the pay and the management..
The only thing they ever complained about were lazy employees who did nothing or who did not show up for the Late shifts leaving them to do twice the work.
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
138hwy…so, what you’re saying is that (if unions have no purpose now) we all have to conform as wage slaves? Come on. You can see what’s happening to this great nation, can’t you? Pretty sad if you can’t; you seem like an intelligent person. I guess we can agree to disagree on the privilege/right issue. As to honoring them: there was a time I felt honored, until they started treating people like slaves, making production goals unrealistic, blatant favoritism, etc. How can you honor someone who treats you like crap? We gave RA the chance to make things better and they spit in our faces. If unions are so bad, then they deserve one! Ever since this campaign started, RA has bent over backwards to try and make things right—they’re desperate to squash it! Why couldn’t they have shown that effort before we started organizing? They had the opportunity to kill the union idea before it started…they just didn’t care!
No Spin, I’m really sorry about your brother-in-law. Unions aren’t perfect either…and there is not just ONE union, as I’m sure you are aware. People lose their jobs with or without them. Your sons are right, there are quite a few lazy ones there; those are the ones who are “protected” by management as the “favorites.” Production standards seem to not apply to them, but others get fired for not making their rates. That’s part of the BS we’re fighting against. As I said before, it wasn’t always so bad there. It can be a great job! If things were like what they are now when I started, I would have left early. I just don’t have it in me to start all over again somewhere else now.
BTW: Your comment, “Chico wants EVERY worker in the USA to be part of a Union..” I hope you’re not talking about Bush’s North American Union! What a disaster waiting to happen. If that ever becomes reality, we’re all screwed.
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
Chico351, look for another job one that isn’t so hard and hot. Maybe in an ice cream parlor or something. This job is just to much for you.
( send private message )
No Spin says...
Chico..
Here is what I do not get.. YOU are ok with someone elses problem, ie.. the need for better wages, affecting others who need to eat also, who are perfectly ok with the situation? Who made you JUDGE and JURY for EVERYONE???
To me… that is WRONG..IF I lose my job and am not able to feed my children, I demand that it be because of ME…. Can you NOT SEE THAT??
If you STRIKE.. and RA is shut down or has to cut back, there are so many innocent others who get crushed in the middle!!
If I quit my job today, I only affect ME!!
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
No Spin, I haven’t done anything but stand up for my rights. If you have a problem with it, so be it. I respect your opinion but none of what you’re talking about is my fault. I am not the only one involved in this campaign. Judge and jury? A little over reacting there aren’t you? I understand your argument, but like I said before, the workers decide on a strike…not just me or the Union. Who in their right minds WANTS to lose their job? What you don’t understand is that it’s called standing up to these S.O.B.’s and demanding a fair deal. Let me ask you this: what would you do if your employer told you that starting tomorrow you will no longer be able to preshedule days off? (God forbid) One of your children has an accident and goes to the hospital, you get the call and leave work. You end up having to care for your child for the next day, missing work. When you go back to work, your manager tells you that you have two “occurrances” (which are black marks on your attendance record) for the time you were away from work. Would you just accept that? That’s just one example of the crap that is happening at RA. Get 6 of those within a year and you get fired!!!! IT IS HAPPENING! What about those poor people that lost THEIR jobs for stupid reasons? Hell, I knew someone that got an occurrance for flipping over on the 114 onramp, going home after a 12-hour shift; she didn’t show up for work the next day because she was IN THE HOSPITAL! They almost got her for a no-call, no-show. When she came back to work, they slapped her with the “good” news. You want more examples?
Hobalong…you don’t even deserve a reply, since you’re obviously not reading my posts. Although you wish I just shut up and die…hobalong and healthy life!
Peace!
(
send private message
)
RealSteve says...
chico351
So how would a Union fix the problems you outline?
I know of very few companies that would punish good workers who got in an accident on the way home from work or to work. Maybe some would use an incident such as you describe to get rid of someone who was a problem, but I doubt that it would be just for grins.
Most major companies have huge HR staffs working overtime to keep the company from getting sued, and most of the time there is a grievance policy. A Union only serves to force the company to have a third party involved in a discipline action, that’s about it unless the Union has the moxie to call a strike, and most don’t.
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
I haven’t heard anything about any wrong doing by Rite Aid by any one but you. Usually if a place of business as big as Rite Aid is treating their employees you can find that on the web site didn’t see anything. I guess its just you that thinks the place is so bad. Quit while your ahead and find that perfect employer, the one that will make sure your cool when you work.
( send private message )
chico351 says...
Well, RealSteve, as this kind of discipline became known to us, we have tried to ask management to change it…to have the occurrance(s) stricken when some kind of proof was submitted (hospital record, doctors’ notes, court documents, whatever). Fell on deaf ears! That could be something that we can put into a contract at the bargaining table. Excused absences should not be punishable. Hell, God forbid I’m at work if my water main bursts and I have to run home to save my flooding house. As it is now, I’d get an occurrance for that even if I ran to HR with receipts of bills for cleanup and repairs! Who knows what kind of emergencies could pop up within a year? Is this really a strike-issue? No, but it would stop RA from firing people for stupid reasons.
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
Hobalong, I don’t know what search engine you’re using. I just googled “Rite Aid wrongdoins and got 9,390 hits. Furthermore, the ILWU wouldn’t even attempt to organize because one person.
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
Grocery Union Bosses Prosecuted for Rite Aid Employee Firing
Foundation attorneys convince labor board to act in forced-dues firing
January/February 2000 Issue
MOJAVE, Calif. —When Deena Chacanaca was fired from her job at the local Rite Aid drug store, she wasn’t terminated for having a shoddy work ethic or poor work performance. Rather, she was fired because she refused to fund Big Labor’s political machine. But Foundation attorneys have now forced the prosecution of the union and employer for violating Mrs. Chacanaca’s rights.
“These union bosses stole Deena Chacanaca’s livelihood,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the Foundation.
“Foundation attorneys simply cannot stand by and let that happen.”
UFCW local bosses lie to workers
According to Foundation-won court decisions, union bosses can only seize forced dues from workers to cover the unionÕs proven cost of collective bargaining. However, non-bargaining activities like politics, overhead expenses, and public relations are strictly non-chargeable to workers who do not join a union.
Furthermore, in the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court ruling Chicago Teachers v. Hudson, the Court ruled that union officials must provide non-members with independently audited disclosures that demonstrate they are charging non-members only for activities connected to collective bargaining.
In an attempt to swindle money from her paycheck, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1036 officials demanded that Mrs. Chacanaca, as an objecting non-member, pay dues to the union that were only reduced by a laughable 6.89%. They provided no disclosure or proof that her dues would be used only for bargaining-related activities.
As a matter of principle, Mrs. Chacanaca refused to pay any money to the union until her rights were respected and she was given financial disclosure. Providing her with free legal aid, Foundation attorneys filed unfair labor practice charges on her behalf against Local 1036 officials with the NLRB.
Belatedly, union officials sent Mrs. Chacanaca documents they described as “financial disclosures” and demanded she immediately start paying dues reduced 13.82% (more than double their original figure).
“Local 1036’s shifting figures clearly showed that their numbers are totally bogus,” said Gleason.
Not only did Local 1036’s “disclosures” show no evidence of being independently audited; they also showed that union officials were blatantly forcing workers to pay for activities forbidden by U.S. Supreme Court decisions. According to the documentation provided by union officials, workers must pay for all the union’s overhead expenses, undescribed activities of the International union (for which no disclosure was provided), and other activities totaling $320,984 that the union cryptically labeled “other expenses” with no further explanation.
Union bosses demand employer fire Chacanaca
Foundation attorneys responded with another round of unfair labor practice charges at the NLRB. Apparently unfazed, the union bosses again demanded that she pay her dues or face termination. Mrs. Chacanaca promptly refused and was fired.
“In typical union boss fashion, Local 1036 officials are making Mrs. Chacanaca an example to other workers who might dare to question their activities,” said Gleason. “However, Foundation attorneys are determined to ensure that it is the union that is made the example instead.”
Abusive union officials and Rite Aid slapped with federal charges
Foundation attorneys immediately filed a third round of charges against Local 1036 officials and also slapped Rite Aid officials with additional unfair labor practice charges.
In light of the mounting evidence against both UFCW Local 1036 bosses and Rite Aid, Foundation attorneys were able to persuade the union-label NLRB to sock both with a federal labor complaint charging them with violations of workers’ Foundation-won rights.
“The violations of Mrs. Chacanaca’s rights were so blatant in this case that not even the union-dominated NLRB could turn a blind eye,” said Gleason.
A trial has been set for early this year, when an administrative law judge will determine exactly how Local 1036 and Rite Aid officials broke the law.
National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation Inc.
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
Not many compliants against Rite Aid at all, just the compliant here in Lancaster, some pussys that think the warehouse is to hot. Get a life all you want is the union in Rite Aid and thats all you want. Just say no to Unions. Quit and find that job in some Ice Cream parlor, its cool there.
( send private message )
Martel says...
Larry,i have a friend who i grew up with he is the president of the international dr
union, the corruption in unions today is much worse than when the mafia had control they have figured out how to steel more from there members than ever before and offering very little protection or benefits in return. i was a strong beleiver in unions and still am, however they need to clean house on all levels.
( send private message )
chico351 says...
Hobalong, we can go on forever back and forth with websites on this issue. I have nothing against Watchdog groups! They keep everyone on their toes when it deals with corruption.
Run silent, run deep: Former Rite Aid (nyse: RAD - news – people ) Chief Executive Martin Grass pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to defraud the company and its shareholders. In one of the biggest corporate accounting scandals in recent history—quite a feat, when one considers the competition—Grass faces up to 96 months prison, a $500,000 fine, and must forfeit $3 million. He also faces up to three years of supervised probation. A trial had been scheduled to start June 23, with defendants Grass and former Rite Aid Vice Chairman and general counsel Franklin Brown. The former Rite Aid execs made allegedly unsupported gross profit adjustments totaling $268.3 million; the indictment also said the ex-CEO used $2.6 million in company money to buy 83 acres of land from a company he owned with his brother-in-law. Grass also doled out luscious severance packages to bind the loyalty of his alleged co-conspirators by writing back-dated agreements on a computer—which he said investigators couldn’t find “unless they use a Trident submarine,” the indictment said. After Grass entered his plea, shares in the No. 3 U.S. drug store chain traded up 16 cents at $4.59 on the New York Stock Exchange. —http://www.forbes.com/2003/06/17/cx_gl_0617facesam.html
Corruption there too!
And at our friendly neighborhood warehouse:
“Rite Aid’s former senior management team engaged in a financial fraud that materially overstated the Company’s net income for the fiscal years (“FY”) 1998, 1999, the intervening quarters and the first quarter of FY 2000. In addition, the former senior management failed to disclose material information, including related party transactions, in Proxy and Registration Statements, as well as a Form 8-K filed in February 1999. Initially in July 2000 and later in October 2000, Rite Aid restated reported cumulative pre-tax income by a total of $2.3 billion and cumulative net income by $1.6 billion. Rite Aid’s massive restatement was, and to this day is, the largest financial restatement of income by a public company. “—www.som.yale.edu/faculty/Sunder/FinancialFraud/Recent%20Fraud%20Cases%20with%20Descriptions.doc (find “Rite Aid” in the document) This document refers to our old GM, Rod Brown.
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
Cool! Well, now that RA employees are starting to wear jackets in the warehouse, we are again required to take them off before leaving the building and to shake them in front of the security officers to show that we aren’t stealing anything! This policy started last year when management accused it’s workers of theft and pilferage. Dear Lord, I wonder when they’re going to start making RA shoppers do shake out their jackets before leaving the stores!
What’s next? Random strip searches?
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
Paladyn says...
Maybe the policy was enacted as a way of preventing theft? Ever think how much money the Warehousers would save if they could take it from the shelf?
( send private message )
mattkeltner says...
I usually shop at Walgreens or CVS anyways.
:-)
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
Yes, Paladyn. That is the reason they gave us…after going a couple of years with those “detector-thingys” that was invented just for that purpose. I’m sure they have theft in the stores too; And people who peel off the security stickers from product they sell in the stores. Does that make ALL shoppers thieves? It more than likely happens at the warehouse too, but it doesn’t make all of US thieves.
The day they start making customers shake out their jackets, I’m sure I won’t be the only person to not step foot in there ever again.
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
RealSteve says...
chico
But you work for the company, therefore you are an expense, not a source of income. There is a difference that even a pro-union guy like you should get.
Also a simple solution to the problem of your offended dignity, turn in your co-workers who are stealing from your employer.
(
send private message
)
138hwy says...
Yeh, but at least HE has a job, unlike some other people who blog all ay long.
( send private message )
RealSteve says...
Someone hear something? I thought there was some sort of noise coming from an old man. Maybe it was just a fart.
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
Chico, what you showed above doesn’t have anything to do with how they treat the workers. As many people that these large companies have there will always be people trying to make and easy buck.
( send private message )
138hwy says...
351…Are you trying to kid anyone, or what? The easiest solution would be for you to just quit your job. But I think you are hoping for the “UNION” to ride into town to solve all of the problems caused by this bastard, sweatshop, I hate employees, RITEAID..
( send private message )
chico351 says...
You huys crack me up, really. RealSteve, what they pay us for the work we do for them doesn’t even compare to what we cost the company in expenses. You can’t be serious about going down that road. What is the crime wanting to make more money? Speaking of expenses, have you failed to notice how the prices of gas, utilities and what-nots have gone up…but our paychecks stay the same? Oh, I forgot about that noise you said you heard.
Hobalong, I guess I have to spell it out for you again. But in all fairness, what I “mentioned above” was kind of vague: RA implemented this policy last year, soon after they found out about us wanting to organize. They didn’t waste any time harrassing and intimidating Union supporters (you know, the old company-song-and-dance to show that messing with them is a bad idea). We were forced to go to what they called “union education meetings” where they dictated to us how bad unions are; that RA management would continue having overall authority over its employees…they were flexing their muscle and letting us know it. BTW, this was one of the charges that the NLRB was ready to indict them on. Anyway, they implemented the “shake you jackets” policy just to show us that power. Now I’m not one to lose my job over stupid s**t like stealing a 50-cent candy bar or losing my cool because security (who are only doing THEIR job) wants me to take off my jacket on the way out, but initially some people lost their cool and refused (anti- and pro-union people). I’ll give you 3 guesses as to which ones were written up and which ones were verbally reprimanded; I don’t think you’ll need 3 though. I think you can now see that it does have something to do with how they treat workers?
138hwy, I will indulge you one last time about quiting my job: That is not as easy as you say it is. With the economy as it is now, how could I start over at a new job making their base salary? I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at today and, in Life, you only get somewhere by going forward…Quiting is never an option! What about it, Cowboy? If you had to, wouldn’t you prefer to die with your boots on in a blaze of glory?
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
Chico, the simple fact is Rite Aid investors own Rite Aid, its their company to do with it as they like. You the worker have a big choice either to work under their rules or quit. Simple enough isn’t it? They do not owe you a living, you owe that to yourself. If you don’t seem to be making a good living at Rite Aid then you quit and go some where else isn’t that simple? Then you say well I can’t quit or I wouldn’t have a job. That would be your problem then wouldn’t it because you control who you work for, no one put a gun to your head and said you will work in this hot warehouse at this pay. You control what you do, you control what you know to even get a job. If the warehouse type job is all you can get whos fault is that? Try learning some other type of a job and maybe you can be one of the bosses instead of just one of the worker Ants that just fellow orders to get your pay check. If you don’t like the heat you get out of the fire, go join Redflag in the welfare line and don’t be one of those slaves he talks about.
( send private message )
Marvin M. says...
It is my opinion that most people in the Antelope Valley have no clue what a “Living Wage” really means. I worked several years nonunion before I became the proud union member I am today. Besides the obvious wage increase the biggest benefits I will get include not sucking off of the social aid system by collecting medical benefits, being broke after I hit retirement because social security won’t cover the cost of my medicines and so forth. Meanwhile these huge corporations record profits in many cases by paying Chinese labor a couple dollars a day making that rich stock holder richer while the wal-mart worker lives on food stamps and god forbid they get sick and your tax dollars have to cover the cost instead of employee benefits. We pay the wages regardless it is just a case of does in line rich pockets or put food on the table for people willing to work.
( send private message )
138hwy says...
“Proud union member”. Were you very proud about the grocers strike about 4 years ago at Albertson’s, etal. where the unions got their clock cleaned?
I talked to some of those unionites and they were making close to $28. per hour when factoring in benefits. Is that a “living wage” according to your way of thinking?
Dumb lie also about wal-mart and I always hear this refrain about a company that is highly successful and employs over 1 million (hard to place) workers. If wal-mart workers get food stamps, so what? Illegal aliens do and why no hue and cry about this country supporting people who never even deserve one dime?
Your blog is bogus as wal mart does have health insurance and you damm well know that.
( send private message )
Hobalong says...
Marvin M. when you’re in the union you don’t have to sell yourself, you get what the union says you’re going to get. They find you the job, you just set back and let some one else do the work for you. If you didn’t make much non union then you probably weren’t worth much in the first place. Non union you have to sell yourself, good workers get more than bad workers. If you are one hell of a good worker you damand what you get paid and you get it. You make what you are worth not what the union thinks everyone that works for the union is worth. A good worker can make a lot more non union than union.
( send private message )
chico351 says...
It’s obvious that Hobalong and 138hwwy live in another world!
Thanks, Marvin M. for chiming in. After taxes, I can’t even afford to put into a retirement fund for fear of not being able to pay my bills in a crunch…I’ll keep my money in my bank account where it’s more easily accessible.
But on to Hobalong’s previous commment on 10/20: Hobalong, let’s take your line of reasoning a little bit farther; You say that if I’m not happy at RA, I should just quit, go back to school for another career…in other words “run for the hills.” Well, I (like many of you bloggers here) am not happy with what Bush & Co. are doing to this great nation either (i.e., The North American Union, Amnesty, border control, hush-hush executive orders being signed, etc.). You are suggesting that I run for the hills and let it happen? Hobalong, there will come a day when there will be no where left to run TO! What about the America those of you who sit back and do nothing will leave for your children? Sounds like you’re wanting some kind of Orwellian Society…what are you? A Nihilist? You said, “If you are one hell of a good worker you damand what you get paid and you get it.” Again, what world do you live in? I can imagine going into HR with that line! They’s laugh themselves silly and send me back to work; hell, they’d probably write me up for whatever cockameme reason they could invent and put me on notice. But I guess I should thank you for your comments…I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time.
PEACE, Brother!!!
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
138hwy…Those proud union members stood strong, putting their own livlihood on the line for American workers.
June 26, 2007
The union said the strike authorization was necessary to force the supermarkets to take contract negotiations seriously.
“The employers were testing our members,” said Mickey Kasparian, head of Local 135 in San Diego and Imperial counties. “They didn’t think they had the heart after what happened three years ago. They miscalculated.”
Ted Taft, managing director of Meridian Consulting, which tracks the grocery industry, said a strike would be too damaging for everyone.
“That’s a lose-lose situation,” he said. “Still, it’s hard to figure out who blinks first.”
July 18, 2007
Fears of a supermarket strike… evaporated Tuesday when the region’s largest grocery chains and the union representing 65,000 store employees reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract.
“We have recovered a lot without a strike,” said Rick Icaza, president of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles. “I think our members will overwhelmingly accept this. The wage increase and improvement in health plan benefits are significant.”
Management representatives confirmed that an accord had been reached but declined to comment on it.
Standing up them is the only way to put these corporate thugs in their place!
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
BACKGROUND ON RITE AID’S SETTLEMENT
WITH THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
After 10 months of investigations, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
found strong evidence that Rite Aid committed 49 violations of labor law in
response to union organizing efforts by workers at its Southwest Customer
Support Center in Lancaster, CA. By April 2007 the Board was ready to take Rite
Aid to trial over these violations. The Board routinely offers a chance to settle
before trial. In this case, Rite Aid chose to take the settlement rather than go
through a hearing before an NLRB judge.
Under the settlement, the government will require Rite Aid to do the same things
it would have had to do if the judge found it guilty. Rite Aid will have to:
• re-hire the fired workers and pay more than $40,000 in back wages plus
interest;
• pay back wages to people it suspended and demoted illegally;
• post a notice all over the facility promising not to engage in the types of
illegal activity named in the government’s case. Some of the promises Rite
Aid will have to make to its workers include:
o It will not “discharge, suspend, demote, warn, retaliate or
discriminate against” employees for union activities;
o It will not “suspend or otherwise discipline” people who give
testimony to the NLRB;
o It will not say that it can’t give planned wage increases if workers
vote in the union;
o It will not spy on union activities or make it look like it is spying;
o It will not offer to provide financial aid or other assistance to
discourage employees from joining the union;
o It will not ask about employee support for the union or ask people
to report on co-workers’ union activities;
o It will not do anything that “interferes with, restrains or coerces”
employees’ exercising their right to organize.
Region 31 of the NLRB found enough evidence to support charges that Rite Aid
did all of these things, all of which violate federal labor law as set out in the
National Labor Relations Act. The Act sets the rules employers and unions must
follow in organizing drives, contract negotiations and other situations. Section 7
of the NLRA protects the right to organize. It says:
“Employees have the right to self-organization, to form, join or assist
labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their
own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose
of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also
have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities except to the
extent that such right might be affected by an agreement requiring
membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment as
authorized in section 159(a)(3).”
The National Labor Relations Board enforces the Act. It investigates charges of
labor law violations. If it finds enough evidence on the charges, it issues
complaints, which are like indictments in a criminal case. The Board was ready to
indict Rite Aid for 49 labor law violations. Rite Aid opted to settle rather than
going to trial.
“Seldom do individuals go into a courtroom, a hearing, or any other
avoidable contest, knowing that they are in the wrong and that they
can expect to lose the decision. No one really likes to be publicly
recorded as a law violator (and a loser too). Similarly, it is seldom
that individuals refuse to accept an informal adjustment of
differences that is reasonable, knowing that they can obtain no
better result from the normal proceeding, even if they prevail.”
—from “A guide to basic law and procedure under the National
Labor Relations Act,” NLRB General Counsel’s Office, 1991.
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
chico351 says...
For those of you who think that there are just a few “naggers” about Rite Aid, check out www.riteaidinsider.com
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
Boscoe says...
Well now I’ve heard it all, I wish I could have had a union rep with me when I shipped out. Man it was hot overseas and the barracks, or lack thereof, had no heating or air conditioning. The tents we had to sleep in, the bushes inside the jungle, man, they sucked…
Thanks Chico for sharing that with me.
Stupid question here Chico…you knew it was hot when you took the job…why the complaints now? Union buddies?
(
send private message
)
Boscoe says...
Ace..
Sorry man, I didnt do anything like that…but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night…
(
send private message
)
RealSteve says...
Boscoe
Did you apply for your PI license after staying at the Holiday Inn Express last night? You can then be just like Ace.
(
send private message
)
Boscoe says...
Ummmmm, was that what that package was???? Damn, and just cause my continental breakfast was late…
( send private message )
chico351 says...
No, Boscoe. It wasn’t always that hot in the warehouse when I started working there. Is there anyone out there that can say that the last two summers have been hotter than the previous ones?
If every worker there were subject to the climate at the warehouse, the argument would have been different; maybe a few managers would have gotten involved in the fight. But, while the workforce was sweating it out, those who could were sitting nice and cozy in the air conditioned offices…we never saw management on the floor for any long periods of time!
I was in the Army, Boscoe; Fort Benning and then Schofield Barracks. The difference here is that in the service, we signed a piece of paper allowing the government to do whatever the hell they wanted to us. Hell, I almost got court martialed for getting a tattoo! “Damaging government property” they cried! They were certainly in their right to throw the book at me, and there would have been squat I could do. All I can do for you at this point is thank you for your service and recognize your sacrifices…two different issues here!
PEACE!
(
send private message
)
Denisebme says...
Congrats Chico! It sure took long enough.
( send private message )
chico351 says...
Labor Union Coalition Alerts Industry Analysts About Rite Aid
‘You have legitimate concerns about the further underperformance and deterioration of shareholder value.’
ANAHEIM, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ - This week, thousands of Taft-Hartley and union health benefit and pension fund trustees and administrators are in Anaheim, California, for the annual International
Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conference. The conference is considered a premier marketing opportunity for health and investment
management vendors- Rite Aid Health Solutions will be there along with
Caremark, Medco and other PBMs competing for billions of dollars in union business.
While Rite Aid Health Solutions,the company's pharmacy benefit management unit, is looking to organized labor to expand business and help the company compete in the burgeoning mail order pharmaceutical sector, labor unions have big concerns. They expressed those concerns in the following letter that was sent to industry analysts across the USA and in Canada.Here is the letter:
November 5. 2007RE: Rite Aid UpdateTo All Interested Parties:
In recent months, followers of Rite Aid's stock have watched its price reach lows for the year. While many analysts had anticipated the
difficulties of the Eckerd/Brooks integration, most did not expect Rite Aid management would choose to exacerbate integration problems by escalating a fight with its unionized workforce.
At present, approximately 25,000 Rite Aid pharmacists, technicians,
front- end, and warehouse workers have union representation. These unions
the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
collectively represent over 5 million U.S. workers.
Rite Aid Health Solutions, the company's pharmacy benefit management
unit, is looking to organized labor to expand business and help the company
compete in the burgeoning mail order pharmaceutical sector. This week,
thousands of Taft-Hartley and union health and pension fund trustees and
administrators are in Anaheim, California, for the annual International
Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conference. This conference is considered a premier marketing opportunity for health and investment
management vendors, and Rite Aid Health Solutions will be there along with
Caremark, Medco and other PBMs competing for billions of dollars in union business.
Among conference participants, Rite Aid is sure to tout itself as a union- friendly company. However, our unions will be there in force to set the record straight on the company's recent assaults on workers' rights. For months, Rite Aid has failed to comply with legally-binding contractual
language governing the rights of workers in newly acquired stores and has
waged a union-avoidance campaign in California among warehouse workers
seeking representation through the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union (ILWU).
To get the word out about Rite Aid's recent anti-union actions, SEIU,
UFCW and ILWU welcomed hundreds of trustees at a reception on the
conference's opening night. Throughout the week, we are distributing
information and encouraging union trustees and administrators to question
Rite Aid's actions and encourage them to not do business with the company
until it starts doing right by its workers.
Today, Rite Aid is at a critical juncture. The company's future is
riding on the success of the acquisition, the growth of its PBM business, emergence from the scandals that plagued the company in the past, and improving same store sales during the upcoming holiday season. Rite Aid is
already on thin ice; it can ill-afford to put it all at risk by antagonizing its workforce.
We are fully committed to upholding the legally-binding contractual rights of Rite Aid and Eckerd Brooks workers and will not stop until we are satisfied that Rite Aid is on the right track for its workers, and in turn, its customers.
Needless to say, if Rite Aid continues on its current course, investors may have legitimate concerns about further underperformance and
deterioration of shareholder value.
If you have further questions on this matter or would like additional
information, please feel free to contact Yvonne Armstrong, 1199SEIU
Executive Vice President, 212-261-2311.
Sincerely,Yvonne Armstrong
Executive Vice President
1199SEIUcc: Industry analysts; industry press
The conference will continue from Sunday through November 7 at the
Anaheim Convention Center Yvonne Armstrong of 1199SEIU said, "We're asking all conference attendees to stop by Rite Aid's booth and tell them to think
twice about trusting them with their business until they do the right thing."
http://www.riteaidinsider.com discusses issues of concern to investors,
consumers, and seniors.
http://www.riteaidworkerstogether.org discusses issues of concern to Rite Aid,
Eckerd and Brooks employees( send private message )
chico351 says...
Damn! I wonder why it posted like that…I need bifocals!!!
( send private message )
chico351 says...
This is the link, anyway:
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/11-06-2007/0004699305&EDATE=TUE+Nov+06+2007,+06:22+PM
(
send private message
)
Boscoe says...
Chico..so, because its hot and cold in lancaster, does that mean the stock is bad now????
Have you located other employment since you cannot deal with Rite Aid???
(
send private message
)
Hobalong says...
When it does this, right click your mouse and recopy what is on the screen and then re paste it.
( send private message )
chico351 says...
Long time…no hear, people! Well, I’m sure you have already heard: The Rite Aid Distribution Center is now organized! Yes, doubters, we won the NLRB election against all odds! Rite Aid couldn’t get rid of enough YES voters in time and overestimated their newly-hired NO votes. The election took place on March 14 and the score was 283-261 in our favor. Rite Aid truly deserved to lose…and you know what? After all the injustice, we deserved this win! Now, we wait for the NLRB to certify the election (we should have it by Monday or Tuesday) and we start the negociation procedures. This win signifies the first vote of many to come! I just hope that we can fix the wrongs done to our fallen heroes….
( send private message )
Would you like to comment on this blog post? Login to talk back!
mattkeltner says...
Could you explain “Section 8” rights? I know this has absolutely nothing to do with the county housing authority, but you may want to clear that up for our more intellectually-challenged bloggers.
( send private message )