Feds set to take Rite Aid to trial for breaking labor law
Labor Desk
April 25, 2007
Harbor area ILWU rallies behind Rite Aid workers’ drive to join Warehouse Local 26.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is ready to take Rite Aid to trial on 49 separate violations of labor law committed by 14 managers at its Lancaster distribution center. Los Angeles Harbor Area ILWU members will rally with distribution center workers at noon this Saturday, April 28 at the Rite Aid Store at 5th and Gaffey Streets in San Pedro to protest these violations. Rite Aid launched a heavy anti-union campaign as soon as the Lancaster workers began organizing last year to join International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26.
After interviewing dozens of people in an investigation that began last summer, the NLRB found strong evidence that Rite Aid broke the law in many ways. These included: unfairly firing two union supporters and disciplining several others; interrogating people about their feelings for the union; making threats, and smearing union supporters by implying they were thieves, thugs and vandals and promising to protect other employees from their “threats, harassment and intimidation.” The Board authorized complaints against Rite Aid, which are similar to indictments in a criminal case. It will order a hearing unless the company opts to settle rather than try to prove it did nothing wrong.
The workers at the Lancaster warehouse decided to organize because they were tired of working at will, with no job security; of mandatory overtime that disrupted their family life; and of working in a building that had no climate control, subjecting them to blazing heat in summer and freezing cold in winter.
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is ready to take Rite Aid to trial on 49 separate violations of labor law committed by 14 managers at its Lancaster distribution center. Los Angeles Harbor Area ILWU members will rally with distribution center workers at noon this Saturday, April 28 at the Rite Aid Store at 5th and Gaffey Streets in San Pedro to protest these violations. Rite Aid launched a heavy anti-union campaign as soon as the Lancaster workers began organizing last year to join International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26.
After interviewing dozens of people in an investigation that began last summer, the NLRB found strong evidence that Rite Aid broke the law in many ways. These included: unfairly firing two union supporters and disciplining several others; interrogating people about their feelings for the union; making threats, and smearing union supporters by implying they were thieves, thugs and vandals and promising to protect other employees from their “threats, harassment and intimidation.” The Board authorized complaints against Rite Aid, which are similar to indictments in a criminal case. It will order a hearing unless the company opts to settle rather than try to prove it did nothing wrong.
The workers at the Lancaster warehouse decided to organize because they were tired of working at will, with no job security; of mandatory overtime that disrupted their family life; and of working in a building that had no climate control, subjecting them to blazing heat in summer and freezing cold in winter.
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
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