CVS workers went on strike Friday and are planning on picketing and rallying at stores in Mid City, union leaders announced.

CVS Pharmacy workers represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 in Southern California declared a strike at 7 a.m. Friday and started picketing and rallying at 10 a.m. at 1701 S. Western Ave. in Los Angeles.

The union represents nearly 7,000 CVS workers who are on strike to protest what leaders say are unlawful activities that have interfered with bargaining and prevented employees from reaching a fair deal.

The CVS union members authorized a strike last month. There are 3,500 Rite Aid workers in California voting to authorize a strike Friday. CVS and Rite Aid picket captain leaders gathered at 770’s headquarters on Oct. 9 to plan and prepare for their strike.

UFCW Locals in California representing CVS workers filed unfair labor practice charges in August against CVS for unlawful surveillance of workers, retaliation for union activity, and prohibiting employees from engaging in union activity.

According to the union, the average CVS clerk makes less than $20 an hour and can’t afford to buy insurance from CVS, a health insurance company.

Tabletop fire pits recalled

Nearly 90,000 tabletop fire pits are being recalled after flames shooting out from them resulted in a handful of serious burn injuries.

The Colsen-branded fire pits, which are designed to hold fires by burning liquid alcohol, pose a “flame jetting” hazard, according to a recall notice published Thursday by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The flame jetting can occur when a user is refilling the container, if fire flashes back and propels the burning alcohol.

Alcohol flames can be invisible, and the liquid may also spill or leak out of the pit during use, causing a flash fire. The recall notice warns that this can lead to injury quickly and unexpectedly, potentially causing burns “in less than one second that can be serious and deadly.”

To date, the CPSC says it has received 31 reports of flame jetting or flames escaping from the fire pits, resulting in 19 burn injuries.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. will start furloughing workers later this month in response to the continuing strike at Boeing Co., the aerostructure supplier’s biggest customer.

Spirit will implement a 21-day furlough for about 700 workers supporting Boeing’s 777 and 767 jetliner programs beginning Oct. 28, Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino said. If the strike at Boeing, soon to enter its sixth week, continues past November, Spirit will need to extend unpaid leave and begin layoffs, he said.

“These furloughs are in combination with a series of other cost savings measures, including a hiring freeze and travel and overtime restrictions,” Buccino said in an emailed statement.

The measures at Spirit highlight how the crisis at Boeing is rippling across the wider aerospace industry. Boeing is in the process of buying back Spirit after an ill-fated separation almost two decades ago. The supplier relies heavily on work from the US planemaker and come under mounting financial pressure situation in recent years.

Compiled from City News Service, Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.