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From: USW News
Sent: Tue 7/26/2005 3:42 PM Subject: NEWS RELEASE: Steelworkers Union Condemns Walgreens Pharmacy for Union Busting in Chicago and Northwest Indiana United Steelworkers News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jim Robinson,
District Director, USW District 7 Steelworkers Union Condemns Walgreens Pharmacy for Union Busting in Chicago and Northwest Indiana Union Vows – We’ve Only Begun to Fight! Chicago, July 26, 2005—The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced its support for 1,200 pharmacists in the Chicago area who were forced on strike by the Walgreen Company after it demanded a new contract that would rob their union, the National Pharmacists Association, of negotiating power and could endanger the public by increasing the possibility of mistakes caused by work overload. The USW signed a strategic alliance with the National Pharmacists Association that would bring broad labor and public support to end Walgreens’ attempt to break the union and assist the pharmacists in attaining a fair and equitable contract. The pharmacists also made an unconditional offer to return to work yesterday after striking for almost three weeks and will now take their issues directly to the public with support from the USW. “Working with other unions, political leaders, and community activists, we intend to inform the public about these anti-union actions of Walgreens,” said USW President Leo W. Gerard, who is attending the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago along with presidents from 52 other unions. “We are pleased with our strategic alliance with the USW and know that eventually we will succeed in stopping Walgreens’ union busting,” said Tom Hanson, president of the National Pharmacists Association. “We will also improve pharmaceutical safety by eliminating Walgreens’ attempts to speed-up the filling of prescriptions to unsafe levels.” The Chicago area and Northwest Indiana comprise Walgreens’ second largest market, and 61 percent of the company’s revenues come from prescription sales. The USW pointed out that millions of prescriptions from union-negotiated health plans are filled every month at Walgreens. “Walgreens should not be allowed to profit from the good benefits negotiated by the labor movement, and at the same time attack the union of its pharmacists,” said Gerard. “We will focus our efforts first in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, where the union busting is taking place. If necessary we will gradually expand our efforts to other areas where Walgreens does business. We’ve only begun to fight!” Walgreens, headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with revenues of $37 billion in 2004. With 850,000 members the USW is the largest industrial union in North America and represents 10,000 pharmaceutical workers. There are 500,000 union members affiliated with the AFL-CIO in the Chicago area and 13 million nationwide. ### |