About 3,500 workers at Rite Aid stores in Northern and Central California — including 450 in the Sacramento region — have voted to ratify a new labor agreement.

The agreement between Rite Aid and United Food and Commercial Workers locals No. 5 and Local No. 8-Golden State will expire July 13, 2013.

The contract includes across-the-board wage increases and a ratification bonus. It also maintains a comprehensive union pension plan and health care benefits. The union declined to provide details. “Thanks to the unity of our members and the hard work of our negotiating team, we were successful in bargaining an agreement Rite Aid members can be proud of,” UFCW-8 president Jacques Loveall said in a news release.

“We were pleased to hear the union ratified the agreement,” Rite Aid spokeswoman Ashley Flower said in an email. “The parties worked hard to reach an agreement that is fair to all involved. We look forward to working together with the union and our associates as we continue to run our business and to best serve our stores and customers.”

Some of the underlying economic factors at the negotiating table with Rite Aid — rising health care costs, the sluggish economy and pressure of non-union stores like CVS and Walgreens — likely will be central to other food industry negotiations as well, Loveall said. via email.

Early-stage negotiations with Safeway , Save Mart and Raley’s in Northern California have been constructive, Loveall added.

“As usual, the rapidly rising cost of health care is the single most difficult issue, followed by pensions and wages,” he said. “In addition, pressure from non-union operations like Walmart , SuperTarget and the like create competitive challenges for unionized employers. Our goal is to raise the bar to protect our members’ jobs.”

UFCW-8 and six other union locals are engaged in intensive negotiations with the Albertsons , Ralphs and Vons supermarket chains in Southern California.

Sacramento Business Journal
by Kathy Robertson , Staff writer
Wednesday, August 31, 2011