An indication advertises COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine shots at a Walgreens Pharmacy in Somerville, Massachusetts, August 14, 2023.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
Some pharmacy staff from Walgreens and other drugstore chains are planning to walk out next week in the most recent pushback against what they call unsafe working conditions that put each employees and patients in danger.
Organizers of the hassle and a few pharmacy employees told CNBC they hope the work stoppage will push corporations to make meaningful changes to address the long-standing grievances of many retail pharmacy staff, who’ve complained about having to grapple with what they describe as understaffed teams, insufficient pay and increasing work expectations imposed by corporate management.
The walkout, which organizers have dubbed “Pharmageddon,” will occur Monday through Wednesday across different retail pharmacy locations nationwide, organizers of the hassle told CNBC.
An organizer named Shane Jerominski, an independent pharmacist who used to work for Walgreens, said the walkout could tentatively affect tons of of stores across different chains.
Jerominski, who’s a pharmacy labor advocate, said organizers still haven’t got a definitive count of employees who will take part in the hassle. But he noted that the “bulk” of those that have signaled they plan to walk out are staff from Walgreens — who laid the groundwork for the initiative — and employees from CVS and Rite Aid.
Organizers are also planning to hold rallies outside just a few locations in numerous parts of the country, according to Jerominski and a second person involved with the planning, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
Jerominski and the person, who’s a former pharmacy manager at supermarket chain Publix, also said they’re considering a push for unionization of pharmacy staff who’re currently not represented. There aren’t any concrete agreements to move forward to join a labor group.
A spokesperson for Walgreens said the corporate recognizes the “incredible work our pharmacists and technicians do day-after-day” and that it has taken several steps in its pharmacies “to make sure that our teams can consider providing optimal patient care.”
The corporate’s ongoing efforts are focused on how it may recruit, retain and reward pharmacy staff, the spokesperson said. They added that Walgreens has improved technology and centralized many operations to help maintain appropriate workloads in pharmacies.
A CVS spokesperson said in a press release that the corporate is not seeing any “unusual activity regarding unplanned pharmacy closures or pharmacist walkouts currently.”
The spokesperson added that the corporate is engaging with staff to directly address any concerns they may need, and is concentrated on developing a “sustainable, scalable motion plan” to support each pharmacists and customers.
A spokesperson for Rite Aid didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the upcoming walkout.
The work stoppage will come weeks after some pharmacy staff from Walgreens locations across the country, and CVS stores within the Kansas City area, engaged in separate walkouts over working conditions. Notably, CVS management apologized to Kansas City pharmacy staff and committed to a series of improvements — including adding staff and paid time beyond regulation — after the walkouts there ended.
The demonstrations at pharmacies add to what has been probably the most lively years for the U.S. labor movement in recent history.
CVS and Walgreens were the biggest pharmacies within the U.S. based on prescription drug market share in 2022. Each chains operate around 9,000 retail store locations across the country.
CVS has greater than 30,000 pharmacists and 70,000 pharmacy technicians, while rival Walgreens has greater than 86,000 health-care service providers, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other positions. CVS pharmacists make $61.44 an hour on average, while Walgreens pharmacists make $53.85 per hour on average, according to employment website Indeed.
Who’s participating within the pharmacy walkouts?
As pharmacy staff prepare to walk off the job, Jerominski and the previous Publix pharmacy manager said some independent and retail pharmacy locations have committed to staying open next week to provide patients with service options.
Most of the pharmacy staff who’re enthusiastic about walking out appear to be from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Michigan, Missouri and Indiana, according to Jerominski.
Two pharmacy staff members from Walgreens and one other two from CVS, all of whom asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told CNBC that they plan to walk out. One CVS store manager, who also asked to remain anonymous for a similar reason, said they might participate if their location’s pharmacist does.
A CVS location in Recent York, US, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.
Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Other employees don’t intend to walk out, even in the event that they support the broader effort to secure higher working conditions.
A CVS worker, who was the primary organizer of the Kansas City area walkouts, said the CVS pharmacy staff in that region that they represent will not be inclined to participate. The worker, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said CVS has negotiated with Kansas City staff “in good faith and made good on commitments so far,” so walking out again can be “going backwards.”
A CVS pharmacy manager, who works in a special a part of the country, said they’ve seen positive changes at their very own store following the Kansas City walkouts.
However the pharmacy manager, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said they are going to take part in at some point of the upcoming walkout — and hope their colleagues will too — because they imagine employees need to replicate the solidarity seen in Kansas City “on a bigger scale” to ensure CVS continues to listen to their concerns.
Why are pharmacy staff walking out?
For years, many retail pharmacy employees have complained that corporations equivalent to Walgreens and CVS are placing unreasonable performance demands on employees, without providing enough staffing or resources for them to safely and responsibly execute tasks.
They imagine the problem got worse through the Covid pandemic, when pharmacists and technicians were also required to administer back-to-back tests and vaccinations on top of their normal duties.
Many pharmacy staff told CNBC that a diminishing variety of staff have to juggle ever-increasing day by day tasks, which they said can force errors and put patients vulnerable to serious harm.
“It boils down to us not being as attentive as we want to be when it comes to ensuring people get the appropriate medicines or ensuring patients are properly educated and assisted,” a CVS pharmacist said.
Roughly 100,000 prescription errors are voluntarily reported to the Food and Drug Administration annually. Between 7,000 and 9,000 people within the U.S. die every 12 months due to medication errors.
Some employees said the working conditions also weigh on their mental and physical health. Many staffers described feeling burnt out by their workloads.
As well as to filling and verifying prescriptions, pharmacy employees often have to juggle patient phone calls, administer vaccines every quarter-hour, resolve issues with insurance firms and doctors, perform rapid Covid and flu tests and cope with in-store customers.
“We come home and you’ll be able to’t even consider doing other things since you’re just so exhausted,” a Walgreens pharmacy technician told CNBC, likening their work shift to a marathon. “I have been falling asleep just sitting down.”
Recent vaccine COMIRNATY® (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) by Pfizer, available at CVS Pharmacy in Eagle Rock, CA.
Irfan Khan | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Some pharmacy staff told CNBC that company-imposed performance metrics, equivalent to filling a selected variety of prescriptions a day or administering a certain variety of vaccines, add much more pressure on them.
Jerominski, the organizer and pharmacy labor advocate, claimed immunizations have change into a chief priority for retail pharmacy chains since the margins on vaccines are significantly higher than the typical prescription.
The CVS spokesperson said the corporate has reduced the variety of metrics it uses in recent times, but noted the knowledge “gleaned from safety and quality metrics provides us with a clearer picture of what is working and where improvements could also be needed.”
Meanwhile, Walgreens announced the elimination of performance-based metrics last 12 months, making it the one drugstore chain to achieve this.
Nevertheless, some Walgreens pharmacy staff told CNBC that the corporate continues to push their stores to hit performance goals for tasks like verifying prescriptions. Walgreens has denied worker claims that those metrics still exist.
The previous Publix pharmacy manager claimed that those forms of working conditions are why few people want to work for giant retail drugstore chains.
What else are pharmacy staff hoping for?
Unionization is “one hugely necessary piece of this process,” irrespective of which existing labor union steps up to represent pharmacy employees who aren’t currently represented, Jerominski said.
He noted the overwhelming majority of pharmacists and technicians from Walgreens and CVS haven’t any union representation, while pharmacy staff from a handful of grocery retailers equivalent to Kroger do.
Jerominski said he has organized a fundraiser for a national push to unionize, which had collected nearly $60,000 as of Friday. Organizers have been in talks with multiple existing unions over the past two months, but there isn’t a concrete agreement yet to move forward, he added.
Jerominski said the organizations include IAM Healthcare, a union representing 1000’s of execs within the health-care industry, and the United Food and Business Employees International Union, which represents food, retail and health-care staff across the U.S. and Canada.
IAM Healthcare didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, while UFCW has expressed its support for the recent walkouts staged by Walgreens and CVS pharmacy staff.
People make their way near a Walgreens pharmacy in Recent York City, March 9, 2023.
Leonardo Munoz | Corbis News | Getty Images
Some pharmacy employees also told CNBC they hope the upcoming walkout will help patients higher understand the conditions employees are working in and why they might lead to longer wait times, medication errors or similar issues.
One Walgreens pharmacist said they imagine patients are understandably upset when they can not pick up their medications in a fast and seamless way. Nevertheless, it may be emotionally taxing for workers once they have to cope with patients who get aggressive or, in rare cases, violent, the pharmacist said.
Similarly, the CVS store manager said they hope the walkout will make patients more understanding.
“On the very least, I hope this leads to one customer that may are available and say, ‘Hey, I get it. I will be right here and I will be patient,'” the CVS store manager said. “If it changes one customer from coming in an immediately cussing and screaming at myself — even when it’s rightfully so — then it’s absolutely price it.”