Summer temperatures in the Mojave Desert surrounding Rite Aid’s distribution Center in Lancaster, California are already hotter than 100 degrees, but workers there are turning up the heat on management to negotiate a first contract that’s fair. Contract talks with Rite Aid have dragged for more than 2 years because the company tried to
stall – hoping to wear down the 550 workers who began organizing to join the ILWU more than five years ago.
The heat went up when workers travelled to Rite Aid’s annual shareholder meeting on June 23 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At the meeting, rank-and-file members Sylvia Estrada, and Angel Warner joined a delegation of members from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Teamsters, and Service Employees Union who all stood together for better jobs and an end to union-busting at Rite Aid. The AFL-CIO assigned a team of experts to support the action on the ground and released a study criticizing
Rite Aid’s mismanagement that highlighted the excessive executive pay and perks for CEO Mary Sammons. Rite Aid workers won surprising support from angry shareholders who were furious when they learned that management still hadn’t signed a union contract with workers in Lancaster despite two years of talks. Many shareholders at the meeting spoke out; expressing sympathy for workers in Lancaster, and urging Rite Aid management to immediately settle the contract.
More heat was generated less than a week later when dozens of Rite Aid workers walked out of their Distribution Center in Lancaster to attend a rally in front organized by the ILWU and other unions. A “carne asada” BBQ lunch was served to workers and supporters, with an important bit of shade provided by “Double Trouble,” the 40-foot 18-
wheeler owned by the Food & Drug Council and driven by Damascus Castellanos and Abe Moreno from Teamsters Local 630 in Los Angeles. Local 30 President Dave Liebengood,
Vice President Jack Liebengood, and other Local 30 members were on hand to show solidarity and thank Rite Aid workers for their help in beating back Rio Tinto’s anti-union lockout in Boron. When it came time to return to work, the Rite Aid employees marched back together through the company gates, creating a show of solidarity that wasn’t lost on company officials – who tried to sabotage the union event by offering free lunches to employees inside. ILWU International President Ray Familathe attended the Lancaster rally, and recently joined the contract talks, sitting with the union committee of workers elected from the distribution center.
The added heat seems to be working. A few weeks after the actions, Rite Aid officials agreed to a key contract demand that gives workers a voice in the process for setting production standards inside the warehouse. This contract language on “engineered production standards,” combined with industry-leading language on indoor heat standards, are important signs that the long and difficult effort by workers and their union is making important progress toward a first contract.