AmerisourceBergen Workers Rally For Better Working ...( Company Tries to Impose Pa...),Health

Company Tries to Impose Pay System Based on Favoritism

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AmerisourceBergen employees in Kent, Washington rallied today to urge the giant medical supplies distribution company to honor the significant sacrifices workers have made to help AmerisourceBergen become one of the most successful medical supply companies in the Northwest.

Waving informational picket signs saying "Just Practicing," workers rallied outside AmerisourceBergen's Kent distribution center to demand better working conditions and signed an enormous card calling on the company's CEO to work with its employees to improve management at the facility.

AmerisourceBergen customers experienced service disruptions earlier this year when parts of its distribution network in Florida were suspended by law enforcement officials. The Kent distribution center services the Northwest and Seattle with pharmaceuticals, including such large customers as Costco, Kaiser Pharmacies, and Bi-Mart.

The rally is in response to actions taken by AmerisourceBergen during recent contract negotiations with Teamsters Local 117, which represents workers at the facility. During ongoing contract negotiations, AmerisourceBergen threatened employees with the closure of the Kent facility and utilized illegal tactics to bully workers into backing off efforts to secure a fair contract.

"Everyone knows the only way to stop a bully is to stand up to him," said John Williams, Teamsters Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer and director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division. "Teamsters and AmerisourceBergen customers will be standing up to management and insisting they respect the laws of this country, the well-being of their employees and their customers' need for a dependable distribution network."

The company also presented contract proposals that would impose a discriminatory pay system based on favoritism that would undercut the wage standards set by Ame
'/>"/>