WAREHOUSE'S WORKERS WANT COOLER SPACE RITE AID TOILERS CLAMOR FOR AIR CONDITIONING.Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer LANCASTER -- Warehouse workers trying to unionize delivered a petition Friday asking Rite Aid Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) is a United States retailer and pharmacy chain, operating over 5,000 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Rite Aid Corporation is one of the nation's leading drugstore chains. executives to install air-conditioning at the drug store chain's giant Lancaster distribution center. While the 1-million-square-foot building's offices, cafeteria and some product storage areas are air-conditioned, warehouse workers said the warehouse is not, and the heat -- especially during a July heat wave -- is enough to give them headaches and make them nauseated nau·se·at·ed adj. Affected with nausea. . ``It's hot,'' said forklift operator Jesus Ramos, who said company-organized employee committees for years have asked for air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. in the warehouse but have been turned down. ``The main line is, it's not in the budget.'' About 50 Rite Aid workers and supporters, wearing yellow International Longshore long·shore adj. Occurring, living, or working along a seacoast. [Short for alongshore.] and Warehouse Union shirts, gathered across the street from the building and marched together to deliver a petition they said was signed by 165 employees asking for air conditioning. Rite Aid officials declined to comment on the unionization drive. ``Everyone does have a right to protest. We do everything we can to provide a comfortable Ramos said he believes many more of the 650 warehouse workers want air conditioning but are afraid of managers' reaction if they are associated with the union. ``There's a lot of people who support us but are scared,'' he said. ILWU ILWU n abbr (US) (= International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union) → sindicato internacional de trabajadores portuarios y almacenistas ILWU n abbr (US) (= organizer Marcy Rein said the union believes the death of a warehouse worker who collapsed the evening of June 30, when Lancaster's high temperature was 101, deserves an investigation. The man, who had been operating a motorized mo·tor·ize tr.v. mo·tor·ized, mo·tor·iz·ing, mo·tor·iz·es 1. To equip with a motor. 2. To supply with motor-driven vehicles. 3. To provide with automobiles. pallet jack A pallet jack is a tool used to lift and move pallets. The front wheels are mounted inside the end of the forks, and as the hydraulic jack is raised, the forks are separated vertically from the front wheels, forcing the load upward until it clears the floor. , had a pre-existing seizure disorder Seizure Disorder Definition A seizure is a sudden disruption of the brain's normal electrical activity accompanied by altered consciousness and/or other neurological and behavioral manifestations. . ``It's hot. It's so humid in there that the air is so thick, it's like you can cut it with a knife. It gives you really bad headaches, nausea,'' said Debbie Fontaine, a union committee member recently fired from the warehouse. The union filed a petition June 2 asking for a National Labor Relations Board-supervised election to determine whether a majority of the workers want the union to represent them. No election date has been set. Rein said the company has objected to the inclusion of employees it considers management in the voting. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Union supporters demanding that Rite Aid install air conditioning in its Lancaster warehouse wave at a passing truck after it leaves the facility. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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