Walgreens and other drugstore companies in the United States are organizing a nationwide walkout from Monday to Wednesday.
- IMPORTANT NOTE
- The attempt, called “Pharmageddon” by organizers, is the latest pushback against what pharmacists and technicians claim dangerous working conditions that endanger both personnel and patients.
- Organizers also intend to organize rallies outside a few locations across the country, and they are considering unionizing pharmacy workers who are now unrepresented.
Some Walgreens and other drugstore chain pharmacy employees plan to strike next week in the latest protest against what they describe dangerous working conditions that endanger both personnel and patients. Organizers of the effort and some pharmacy employees told that they hope the work stoppage will force companies to make meaningful changes to address the long-standing grievances of many retail pharmacy staff, who have complained about dealing with understaffed teams, inadequate pay, and increasing work expectations imposed by corporate management.
The walkout, nicknamed “Pharmageddon,” will take place Monday through Wednesday at various retail pharmacy outlets across the country, organizers of the effort told. According to Shane Jerominski, an independent pharmacist who used to work for Walgreens, the walkout may potentially affect hundreds of locations from other brands.
According to Jerominski, a pharmacy labor advocate, organizers do not yet have an exact count of staff who will participate in the initiative. However, he emphasized that the “majority” of individuals who have indicated a desire to strike are employees of Walgreens, which spearheaded the movement, as well as CVS and Rite Aid.
According to Jerominski and a second person involved in the planning, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of punishment, organizers intend to hold rallies outside a few locations across the country. Jerominski and the individual, who is a former pharmacy manager at supermarket chain Publix, also stated that they are exploring a push for pharmacy staff unionization who are currently unrepresented. There are no clear agreements in place to move forward with joining a labor organization.
According to a Walgreens spokesman, the business appreciates the “incredible work our pharmacists and technicians do every day” and has taken many initiatives in its pharmacies “to ensure that our teams can concentrate on providing optimal patient care.”
According to the spokeswoman, the company’s continuous efforts are centered on how to recruit, retain, and reward pharmacy professionals. They also stated that Walgreens has upgraded technology and centralized numerous activities to help pharmacies manage proper workloads.
According to a CVS spokeswoman, the business isn’t witnessing any “unusual activity regarding unplanned pharmacy closures or pharmacist walkouts currently.” The firm is engaging with employees to directly address any issues they may have and is focusing on building a “sustainable, scalable action plan” to serve both pharmacists and customers, according to the representative.
A Rite Aid spokeswoman did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the scheduled walkout. The work stoppage comes weeks after several pharmacy employees at Walgreens sites around the country and CVS stores in the Kansas City region went on strike over working conditions. Notably, once the walkouts in Kansas City ended, CVS management apologized to the pharmacy personnel and committed to a number of reforms, including additional staff and paid overtime.
The pharmacy protests add to what has been one of the most active years in recent history for the US labor movement. In terms of prescription drug market share, CVS and Walgreens were the largest pharmacies in the United States in 2022. Both companies have around 9,000 retail store locations across the country.
CVS employs around 30,000 pharmacists and 70,000 pharmacy technicians, while competitor Walgreens employs over 86,000 health-care service workers, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other roles. According to the job portal Indeed, CVS pharmacists earn $61.44 per hour on average, while Walgreens pharmacists earn $53.85 per hour.
Who is taking part in the drugstore walkouts with Walgreens?
As pharmacy workers prepare to strike, Jerominski and the former Publix pharmacy manager indicated that certain independent and retail pharmacy sites have agreed to remain open next week to provide patients with service options.
According to Jerominski, many of the pharmacy employees who want to walk out are from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Michigan, Missouri, and Indiana. Two Walgreens pharmacy employees and two CVS pharmacy employees, who begged to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, informed me that they intend to strike. One CVS store manager, who also requested anonymity for the same reason, stated that they would participate if their pharmacy would.
Other employees, even if they support the larger campaign to improve working conditions, do not intend to walk out. The key organizer of the Kansas City area walkouts, a CVS employee, stated that the CVS pharmacy staff in that region that they represent are not likely to join. The employee, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, stated that CVS has worked with Kansas City employees “in good faith and made good on commitments thus far,” and that walking out again would be “going backwards.”
A CVS pharmacy manager in another region of the country stated the Kansas City walkouts had resulted in beneficial improvements at their own shop. However, the pharmacy manager, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, stated that they will participate in one day of the upcoming walkout — and hope their colleagues will as well — because they believe employees need to replicate the unity seen in Kansas City “on a larger 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 firms like Walgreens and CVS place unrealistic performance demands on them while not providing adequate staffing or tools for them to complete duties safely and responsibly.
They believe the problem worsened during the COVID epidemic, when pharmacists and technicians were compelled to perform back-to-back testing and immunizations on top of their regular responsibilities. Many pharmacy employees told me that a shrinking number of personnel must juggle ever-increasing daily chores, which they said can cause errors and put patients in danger.
“It boils down to us not being as attentive as we need to be when it comes to making sure people get the right medicines or making sure patients are properly educated and assisted,” a pharmacist at CVS said. Every year, over 100,000 prescription errors are voluntarily reported to the Food and Drug Administration. Every year, between 7,000 and 9,000 persons in the United States die as a result of drug errors.
Some employees claim that their mental and physical health suffers as a result of their working environment. Many employees reported being exhausted by their tasks. In addition to filling and verifying prescriptions, pharmacy personnel must frequently manage patient phone calls, deliver immunizations every 15 minutes, deal with insurance companies and doctors, run rapid Covid and flu tests, and so on.
“We come home, and you can’t even think of doing other things because you’re just so exhausted,” a Walgreens pharmacy technician told, comparing their work shift to a marathon. “I’ve been falling asleep just sitting down.”
Some pharmacy employees told that company-imposed performance criteria, such as filling a certain number of prescriptions per day or providing a certain number of vaccines, put them under additional strain. According to Jerominski, the organizer and pharmacy labor advocate, immunizations have become a top goal for retail pharmacy chains since vaccine margins are much larger than ordinary prescription margins.
According to a CVS representative, the business has reduced the number of metrics it employs in recent years, but the data “gleaned from safety and quality metrics provides us with a clearer picture of what’s working and where improvements may be needed.”
Meanwhile, Walgreens, the only drugstore company to do so, announced the abolition of performance-based criteria last year. However, several Walgreens pharmacy employees told that the firm is still pushing their locations to meet performance goals for duties like prescription verification. Walgreens has disputed that certain measurements still exist, despite employee assertions.
According to the former Publix pharmacy manager, such working circumstances are the reason why few people choose to work for huge retail drugstore businesses.
What else are pharmacy staff hoping for?
According to Jerominski, unionization is “one hugely important piece of this process,” regardless of whatever existing labor union steps up to represent pharmacy staff who aren’t currently represented. He pointed out that the vast majority of Walgreens and CVS pharmacists and technicians are not unionized, although pharmacy staff at a few grocery stores, such as Kroger, are.
Jerominski claimed he arranged fundraising for a national unionization campaign that had raised about $60,000 as of Friday. Organizers have been in talks with numerous existing unions for the previous two months, but no firm agreement to move forward has been reached, he noted.
According to Jerominski, the organizations include IAM Healthcare, a union that represents thousands of health-care professionals, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which covers food, retail, and health-care workers across the United States and Canada.
The IAM Healthcare did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the UFCW has indicated its support for the recent Walgreens and CVS pharmacy walkouts. Some pharmacy employees told that they believe the forthcoming walkout will help patients understand the conditions in which employees operate and why they may result in lengthier wait times, drug errors, or other concerns.
According to one Walgreens pharmacist, consumers are understandably unhappy when they are unable to pick up their meds quickly and easily. However, dealing with hostile or, in rare situations, violent individuals can be emotionally draining for personnel, according to the pharmacist. Similarly, the CVS store manager expressed optimism that the walkout would increase patient awareness.
“At the very least, I hope this results in one customer saying, ‘Hey, I get it.'” “I’ll be right here, and please be patient,” replied the CVS store manager. “If it changes one customer from coming in and immediately cussing and screaming at me—even if it’s rightfully so—then it’s absolutely worth it.”
Frequently asked questions
What is the company name of Walgreens?
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
Who is Walgreens CEO?
Is Walgreens a Fortune 50 company?
Walgreens Boots Alliance is rated #18 on the Fortune 500 list of the top firms in the United States by total revenue as of 2022.
Is Walgreens or CVS a bigger company?
CVS is a larger firm in terms of sales and market capitalization than Walgreens, but Walgreens has a larger share of the US health and beauty specialist retail market than CVS.
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