WOONSOCKET, R.I., and WASHINGTON — CVS Caremark Corp. and United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) have agreed to allow CVS/pharmacy employees in three major California markets to vote on whether they want union representation.
CVS and UFCW said Thursday that the cooperation agreement involves staff at about 500 CVS/pharmacy stores in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego metropolitan areas.
The five-year pact also establishes a quick, simple election process that enables workers to vote on whether to join the union, according to CVS and UFCW.
"This agreement is fair and reasonable for our employees and the company," CVS Caremark president and chief executive officer Larry Merlo said in a statement. "It enables CVS Caremark to focus all of its energy and resources on our purpose of helping people on their path to better health."
More than 8,300 CVS/pharmacy employees are UFCW members in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
CVS said that in California it recognized the workers’ union at about 100 former Sav-On stores after the drug chain acquired them from Albertson’s Inc. in 2006.
Under the new cooperative agreement, both parties will extend the existing collective bargaining agreement for other California CVS/pharmacy employees to incoming union members for the next five years.
"Allowing CVS employees the freedom to choose a union is the right thing to do," stated Joe Hansen, international president of UFCW. "We share a commitment to making retail jobs secure, allowing workers to pay their bills, raise a family and live a middle-class life."
