Wednesday, August 01, 2012
UFCW's Statement Regarding Southern California Rite Aid Strike Authorization
Los Angeles (Tuesday, July 31, 2012) — Rite Aid workers all over Southern California voted overwhelmingly in the last few days to reject the company’s proposals for devastating concessions in their next labor contract.
The vote grants leaders of seven local unions of the United Food and Commercial Workers the authority to call a strike, if it becomes necessary.
Union members of UFCW Locals 8, 135, 324, 770, 1167, 1428 and 1442 voted July 26-30 at dozens of locations between Kern County and the Mexican border.
Rite Aid is seeking 34 concessions from the workers. The proposals include, among other takeaways:
• effective elimination of health care for workers' spouses and children
• out-of-pocket costs for health care benefits of up to $10,000 a year
• virtual elimination of all accumulated sick leave pay
• reduction of the number of hours workers are allowed to work
• elimination of the 40-hour workweek and 24-hour guarantee for part-time employees
UFCW leaders praised the workers for affirming their unshakeable solidarity with their union.
“The members’ emphatic rejection of Rite Aid’s demands and their vote for strike authorization will push management toward negotiating an agreement the workers can ratify,” they said.
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6 comments:
Of course, now we can expect to hear the usual chorus of voices explaining how these workers, and not the greedy CEOs, are the "spoiled" ones, the "entitled" ones for not simply grabbing their ankles and taking one for the team. Their attempts at maintaining a minimal standard of living will be ridiculed, and they will be accused of "gumming up the works."
I see the same process at work in my day job at a big state university, where civil servants are asked regularly to do stuff that isn't in their job descriptions, all while the overpaid administration fail to meet with union reps to draft a new contract. The response of human resources (literally--I overheard this from one earlier this week): "if civil servants stuck to their job descriptions and contracts, the university would stop working." Um, that's the idea...
They do have it good... Nowhere else is a rite aid employee guaranteed 40 hours a week, nor do they get sick pay. That is the way of most retail businesses. And to have to share the costs of medical insurance? OMG, why would anyone want to do that? Oh, maybe because everyone else does.
You know some people just dont get it. I work for rite aid and I just thought I would chime in and let you know that we do not have a problem paying for our health ins. We already pay part of it but here is the problem. I am only part time and they want to get rid of our 24 hour part time schedule. They want to lower it to 12 hours a week so each week I wouldnt work above 12 hours. But in order to keep my ins I have to work no less than 30 hours a week. Which wouldnt be possible plus say they did give us those 30 hours they want to raise it to where as a single person for only myself I would about $500 a month for ins if not more. that is only 2 of the 34 issues we have. So before you call us greedy or say its fair get your facts right. We are honest americans trying to protect ourselves to know we will still be able to pay our rent each month and will still be able to support our families.
so John Standley, CEO of rite aid for 2 years, an employee for 4, makes about 1.3 million dollars a year on a company that doesn't make a profit.
i think we know where the problem in the corporate world is and it's not the workers' benefits.
I to work for Rite Aid, and I agree with you !!! People that do not have all the facts, should really not put up comments like those. Rite aid already gives the customers are discount. So these people think we get all these perks. They need to read up, before they speak.
Rite aid is saying screw the children that are future. With out health care where would our children be. Rite aid has givin the customers our discount. You would think we would get some perks or some respect for what we do for the company. We do the work, as your employee to make corporate rich for a non profit business? Rite aid needs respect the people that makes there salary. The employee. This company marale is bad in every store across america especially in so. cal. because we really get treated like ****! We know where the problem is, its with corporate. Thats why the stocks are like all of there stores, need help! Each store has 1-2 people on each shift which makes customers suffer and employees over worked and unappreciated.
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