In late June, Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW, which represents thepharmacists, attended an A&P special shareholders meeting onJune 26 in Woodcliff, NJ and voted against several proposals thatincluded easing the path for the company to acquire new companiesand the issue of incentive pay at a level of store managers andabove. But the union's attempt to discuss the issue of thepharmacists' retirement package was rebuffed at the meeting, saidJohn DeMartino, secretary-treasurer of Local 338, who attended themeeting with a petition signed by 2,000 employees supporting thepharmacists. Local 338 represents all employees but meat andseafood workers.

The local is an A&P shareholder with rights to vote onproposals, DeMartino explained.

"We wanted to talk about the plight of the Waldbaum'spharmacists, but they said this is not what this meeting is about,"DeMartino said. (Officials of Montvale, N.J.-based A&P declinedto comment for this story, citing a policy not to comment ondetails of negotiations.)