News from 1199 SEIU

For more information contact: Mindy Berman, (518) 229-0486 / (518) 810-5326; in Boston, Peggy Bachman, (518) 859-2185 and Laurie Vallone, (917) 969-3839

Healthcare Workers Union to Warn Rite Aid: You're Writing a Prescription for Failure

Demonstration Against Rite Aid and Eckerd/Brooks Merger at Chain Drug Store Industry Conference

ALBANY, NY (08/12/2007; 0700)(readMedia)-- Scores of union leaders and activists from 1199SEIU, the largest healthcare workers union on the east coast, will make their opposition to Rite Aid's pending acquisition of the Eckerd and Brooks drug stores known to the industry. While Rite Aid has not received final approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for a deal to acquire the business from the Jean Coutu Group USA, the company has already begun an integration that includes slashing Eckerd and Brooks workers' paid sick and vacation days and denying workers their legally protected right to join a union. Meanwhile, UBS Securities Canada Inc. reports that the Rite-Aid business in the United States, which accounts for 38% of Jean Coutu’s value, remains a risk.

At a time when industry analysts and institutional stock holders are watching Rite Aid closely to see whether it will be able to successfully pull off the integration of the Eckerd/Brooks chain, "Rite Aid has made a choice to fight with 1199SEIU and our members. In doing so, they risk losing business and spoiling the integration of the operations of the drug store chains,” explained 1199SEIU Executive Vice President Mike Rifkin. The international union, SEIU Healthcare, unites one million pharmacy and healthcare workers largely concentrated in Rite Aid's prime markets. “Together with the 1.3 million members of the UFCW, which also represents Rite Aid workers, we have the resources to make our case to the public and regulators and encourage corporate accountability. We will pursue this until we are satisfied that Rite Aid is on the right track," Rifkin said.

What: Demonstration Against Rite Aid/Eckerd/Brooks

Who: 1199SEIU Leaders and Rank and File Activists from New York and Massachusetts

When: Sunday, August 12, noon - 2:00 p.m. Interviews and photo ops available @ this time and by appointment

Where: In front of the main entrance of the Boston Convention Center (Summer Street)

The 1199SEIU contract with Rite Aid includes language that requires Rite Aid to recognize 1199SEIU as the bargaining agent for any acquired stores within the contract’s geographic area. The United Food and Commercial workers (UFCW) represent 18,000 Rite Aid workers in other regions of the U.S.

Rite Aid is in clear violation of its contractual obligations and has instructed Eckerd store managers to deny 1199SEIU organizers access to stores, confiscate union literature, interrogate workers, and to take other actions intended to intimidate workers. Meanwhile, members of Congress have contacted the FTC to register their concerns and have requested that final approval for the acquisition be postponed until Rite Aid fulfills its collective bargaining obligations with 1199SEIU.

1199SEIU represents more than 5,000 Rite Aid workers: pharmacists, technicians, cashiers, and others at over 400 stores in Metropolitan New York and northern New Jersey. Eckerd/Brooks workers have no union representation.

Representatives of Rite Aid/Eckerd/Brooks are in Boston this week to attend The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) August 2007 Pharmacy & Technology conference from August 11 - 15. More than 150 retail companies comprised of chain drug stores, supermarkets, and mass merchants - including Rite Aid and its competitors - are attending the conference.