A group of pharmacists and technicians at a Walgreens store in Vancouver, Washington, have become the latest to file a petition to join the Pharmacy Guild, which is building a national pharmacy union. This is the seventh filing with the union and the first Walgreens store, according to the Tuesday announcement.
The store has eight pharmacy technicians and two pharmacists. The employees have faced heavy workloads — including high prescription volumes, vaccination appointments and ancillary tasks — and insufficient staffing, according to the announcement. These challenges jeopardize the safety of patients, the employees argue.
“We care deeply for our patients – their health and safety is our top priority in this drive to unionize,” the workers said in a group statement. “We are united with a strong majority to make positive change. We call on Walgreens to not only respect our rights to unionize, but to actively work with us to improve conditions for both patients and pharmacy professionals.”
Improving the Healthcare Financial Experience to Help Care Flow
Zelis CEO Amanda Eisel shares her perspective on how the company is solving the problems of a fragmented health financial system to benefit all.
The Vancouver employees’ complaints are reflective of a lot of Walgreens across the country, declared Shane Jerominski, a pharmacist and co-founder of the Pharmacy Guild. He added that even though there are not many employees at the store, it’s a “pretty sizable operation for a single store.” The store’s filing illustrates that the Pharmacy Guild is willing to support both large and small organizations.
“It’s not the size of the operation,” Jerominski said in an interview. “It’s wherever pharmacists and technicians feel unsupported, feel like they’re being exploited. This is what the Pharmacy Guild was built on, and we are ready to go in and help them organize the workplace for safer conditions.”
The petition to join the Pharmacy Guild was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, an independent federal agency that enforces U.S. labor law. Once a petition is filed, the NLRB could set a date for an election, which certifies or decertifies “a union as the bargaining representative of a unit of employees,” according to the NLRB website. If more than half of the employees vote yes to unionizing during the election, they can be represented by the Pharmacy Guild.
Walgreens did not return a request for comment.
The Funding Model for Cancer Innovation is Broken — We Can Fix It
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
The Pharmacy Guild formed in November to combat the working conditions many pharmacists and technicians are facing across the country. It was developed in partnership with IAM Healthcare, a union of diverse healthcare professionals, including nurses, medical administrators and lab technicians.
The other stores that have filed with the Pharmacy Guild so far are CVS or CVS Omnicare locations, including those near the company’s headquarters in Rhode Island. Some of these stores have also successfully won their election to unionize, according to Jerominski.
Jerominski added that the Pharmacy Guild has “hundreds of leads” of pharmacies interested in unionizing. It also has some mail-order pharmacies in Pennsylvania and California close to filing.
“It’s across the board,” he said. “It’s all companies and all practice settings because that’s reflective of pharmacy. We have a lot of problems everywhere. It’s not just CVS that has issues right now. It’s not just Walgreens.”
Photo credit: Joe Raedle, Getty Images