Two CVS shops near CVS Well being’s headquarters in Rhode Island have filed petitions to affix the Pharmacy Guild, which is constructing a nationwide pharmacy union, one organizer confirmed to MedCity Information on Monday.
The information was first reported by USA At this time. One of many CVS shops is in Wakefield, whereas the opposite is in Westerly. Each places are 24-hour pharmacies and are about an hour from CVS Well being’s headquarters in Woonsocket. Every has about 5 pharmacists who’re severely overworked, declared Shane Jerominski, a pharmacist and co-founder of the Pharmacy Guild.
“They do near 7,000 prescriptions every week. You’d assume, ‘Wait a minute, they will need to have a military of pharmacists to do this.’ However no, regardless that they’re 24 hours, they don’t have that many individuals,” Jerominski mentioned in an interview. “That’s numerous duty for a handful of pharmacists and numerous sufferers’ lives on the road.”
He added that getting shops so near CVS’ headquarters is a “slam dunk” for the union. The shops are the second and third places to file petitions to affix the Pharmacy Guild after an Omnicare pharmacy location in Las Vegas filed in late March (Omnicare is CVS-owned). The petitions on the Rhode Island places solely embrace pharmacists and never pharmacy technicians, although Jerominski expects them to affix quickly. The Las Vegas location consists of each pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, totaling about 31 individuals.
The petitions are filed with the Nationwide Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an impartial federal company that enforces U.S. labor regulation. After a petition is filed, the NLRB might set a date for an election, which certifies or decertifies “a union because the bargaining consultant of a unit of workers,” in response to the NLRB web site. If greater than 50% of the employees vote sure to unionizing through the election, they are often represented by the Pharmacy Guild. The Las Vegas location has an election scheduled for April 24.
Michael DeAngelis, government director of company communications at CVS Well being, mentioned in an electronic mail that the corporate respects its “workers’ proper to both unionize or chorus from doing so. We imagine the direct, two-way relationship we have now with our colleagues is one of the best ways to resolve office considerations. We regularly take heed to our colleagues’ suggestions which helps inform our packages and insurance policies.”
He added that since 2021, CVS has invested about $1 billion in wage will increase. As well as, it’s giving “tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in bonuses” to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in 2024.
The Pharmacy Guild launched in November after a collection of walkouts occurred within the fall amongst Walgreens and CVS workers. It’s working to construct the primary nationwide pharmacy union within the U.S. and was created in partnership with IAM Healthcare, a union of numerous healthcare professionals, together with nurses, medical directors and lab technicians. The Pharmacy Guild has a number of calls for, together with higher wages and safe hours for pharmacy technicians, an improved workload for pharmacists and minimal staffing necessities. If adjustments aren’t made, a lot is at stake, Jerominski mentioned.
“These usually are not poor firms which might be attempting to maintain a enterprise,” Jerominski mentioned. “It’s at all times about shareholder supremacy for firms like CVS and Walgreens and chain pharmacies. It’s by no means about affected person security or worker security or the worker’s capacity to maintain their license. If the pharmacist makes a mistake, their license is on the road, their capacity to observe and help their household for the remainder of their profession is at stake.”
He added that the Pharmacy Guild plans to file a petition for a pharmacy location each week or two weeks for the following few months, whether or not that’s in opposition to a CVS, Walgreens or one other chain. The group’s aim is to have “the vast majority of group observe pharmacies unionized within the subsequent 5 years.”
Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Photographs