by James Parks, Mar 18, 2008
The nearly 700 workers at Rite Aid’s distribution center in Lancaster, Calif., overcame a vicious two-year anti-union campaign to gain a voice on the job after voting for International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 26 last week.
The workers began seeking a union in 2006 to put an end to punishing production quotas and mandatory overtime piled on 10-hour shifts. They endure working in hot desert summers with no air conditioning in their work areas, and no job security.
Says Ignacio “Nacho” Meza, a member of the workers’ organizing committee at the warehouse:
I am so happy right now. We had to make sacrifices, but we showed that if we stand together, if we speak up, we can make changes for ourselves, our families and the people who come after us.
The workers prevailed despite Rite Aid’s all-out effort to squash their organizing drive. For example, Rite Aid fired Meza in January 2007 for his support of the union, but rehired him six months later as part of a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The labor board charged Rite Aid with 49 labor law violations, including disciplining, demoting, suspending and firing union supporters; threatening that people would lose their raises if they voted for the union; and publicly disparaging union supporters. The company settled in May 2007 rather than go before an NLRB judge.
The Rite Aid workers’ battle demonstrates why the Employee Free Choice Act is needed. Federal labor law makes it almost impossible for workers to freely exercise their freedom to join a union. For example, an employer has unlimited access to the workers and union supporters can talk organizing with their co-workers only when they are all off the clock.
If passed, the Employee Free Choice Act legislation would level the playing field and enable workers to decide for themselves how to choose a union.
ILWU Vice President Joseph Radisich praised the workers’ courage and determination:
We take our hats off to the workers who had the courage to stand up for their rights in the face of the company’s campaign.
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