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Condom unions

Pro-union organizations are waging war on a major pharmacy chain because it keeps condoms locked up in some of its stores.

But not the store they chose for a protest Thursday.

Change to Win, a coalition of labor organizations, held a news conference outside a Dupont Circle CVS on Thursday urging the drugstore to enact a corporate policy of keeping condoms unlocked at all times.

However, when The Washington Times called the store at 6 Dupont Circle NW, the person who took the call, who declined to be named, said that store’s condoms are not locked up. A trip to the store later confirmed this.

Also, given that Change to Win’s “CureCVS” accuses the drugstore of limiting access to HIV/AIDS prevention in predominantly minority areas, it seems odd to choose a wealthy neighborhood known as a gay mecca to make the point.

Information released by Change to Win says the campaign was created “to ensure CVS provides equal access across all communities and income levels to its stores and services, offers fair and accurate prices, provides quality products and services, protects customers’ privacy and puts quality pharmacy care first.”

CVS spokesman Michael DeAngelis said Change to Win is being “misleading” and “deceptive” about his company’s policies for political gain. “All CVS stores sell condoms that are unlocked and accessible,” he said.

“In stores where condoms have been heavily shoplifted, a selection of condoms may be kept in a locked display to ensure that there is stock available for customers to purchase,” Mr. DeAngelis said. “This decision is based on the theft experience of the store, not its specific location. In stores that have a locked condom display, we maintain a selection of condoms that are not locked and are available for customers to purchase without asking for assistance from store employees.”

He also accused Change to Win of starting this campaign as retribution against CVS for refusing to waive its employees’ rights to have union elections done by secret ballot.

Big business dare

Business groups are daring President Obama to impose pay caps on labor union bosses in light of indications the White House will limit how much corporate executives can be paid.

Mr. Obama has argued that “corporate greed” has contributed to the economic crisis and appointed a “compensation czar” to review executive pay for several companies receiving taxpayer bailout money. Now White House officials have told the press that legislation should be enacted to limit executive pay in private companies through nonbinding shareholder votes.

The Workforce Fairness Institute, which has lobbied heavily for the defeat of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would ease organization rules for unions, argues that labor officials have acted just as poorly as the “greedy corporate executives” who the president has blamed for the economic downturn. The group points to a 2008 Hudson Institute study that suggests unions have short-changed benefits for their rank and file in favor of generous executive compensation packages and to pad the coffers of their political allies, who are mostly Democrats, as evidence.

“On average, the 21 largest unions’ pension plans had less than 70 percent of the funds that they would need to cover their total obligations, and none were fully funded,” the study said. “Seven were less than 65 percent funded. Yet 23 officer and staff funds from the same unions had 88.2 percent of the funding they would need to pay promised pensions, including seven full-funded plans and another 13 with at least 80 percent of the required funds.”

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