Well, it's finally over. What I'm talking about is the A&P Pharmacy Contract. After 18 months of intense negotiations we were finally able reach an agreement with the company. When we entered into the negotiations, we thought it would be a fairly simple contract to obtain. However, the company had other plans. What they insisted on was weakening your pension's security. They tried every trick in the book to reach their goal. They came up with some very creative proposals, which would have endangered your pension going forward without any regard to how it would impact you.

Early on, the union recognized their charade and with the help of our members, we steadfastly rejected their preposterous plans to strip away your future security.  Needless to say this led to some very heated and adversarial talks.  At times we were left with no choice but to walk out on their silly negotiations.  We knew that if we gave in on the pharmacists' contract, it would lead to a domino effect for the rest of our A&P members when their contract is up and then to the rest of the union.  Once one employer established a contract that took away the pensions of our members rest would insist on the same thing.  One thing is for sure, A&P underestimated Local 338, thinking we would cave in to their ridiculous demands.  Just another in a long line of missteps and mistakes they have made!

Finally, they came to their senses and unconditionally withdrew their ridiculous proposal.  Maybe it had something to do with the investment firm that shored up the Pathmark Folley and placed two members on the A&P board?  Maybe it was the firing of some upper A&P executives? The bottom line is that we won!

Local 338 always tries to deal with all employers in a professional way but don't confuse niceness with weakness. Local 338 would like to restore a good working relationship with the new management team at A&P and will make every effort to do so.  We hope it's not like The Who's song which said "Meet the new Boss... same as the Old Boss."  We will see!

Best wishes to you and your family for a healthy and safe holiday season & a very happy new year.