PROVIDENCE – Pharmacy staff at some CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens stores on Monday launched a three-day walkout to protest working conditions and address staffing shortages, multiple news agencies reported.
The employees, which are mostly not unionized, are demanding both companies fix what they are labeling harsh working conditions that make it difficult to safely fill prescriptions that put the health of their customers at risk.
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The walkout, which organizers are calling “Pharmageddon,” is the third walkout that has been staged in recent months. Employees at Walgreens nationwide walked off the job earlier this month, while pharmacy employees at CVS stores in Kansas City, Mo., walked out in September.
Reuters reported Monday that some pharmacists were also planning to conduct rallies outside CVS’ headquarters in Woonsocket and at Walgreens in Deerfield, Ill., according to social media posts.
Which stores and areas of the country that saw walkouts was unclear. CVS Health spokeswoman Amy Thibault told Providence Business News on Monday that the company was still serving patients across its footprint today and was not seeing any unusual activity regarding unplanned pharmacy closures or pharmacist walkouts.
“We’re committed to providing access to consistent, safe, high-quality health care to the patients and communities we serve and are engaging in a continuous two-way dialogue with our pharmacists to directly address any concerns they have,” Thibault said. “We’re making targeted investments to address their key concerns, including enabling teams to schedule additional support as needed, enhancing pharmacist and technician recruitment and hiring, and strengthening pharmacy technician training. Our goal is to develop a sustainable and scalable action plan to support both our pharmacists and our customers so we can continue delivering the high-quality care our patients depend on.”
Shane Jerominski, a former Walgreens pharmacist and one of the organizers of the walkout, told Reuters as many as 5,000 pharmacy workers would walk out across the three days but said that the exact number of affected stores and participating staff was not clear due to the lack of a union.
“Some of these stores are so grossly understaffed at the moment and just bogged down with not only prescriptions but the amount of immunization appointments and walk-ins that they’re expected to do,” Jerominski told Reuters.
A spokesperson from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union told CNN on Sunday that it supports the walkout. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West also voiced its support.
“UFCW members and staff have been communicating with many of the CVS and Walgreens workers who have been taking actions to stand up for their rights on the job. We are the largest retail pharmacy union in North America, and as such, where workers struggle, we stand ready to assist,” Dave Young, UFCW International vice president and director of organizing, told CNN.
“Health care workers and consumers are experiencing unprecedented strain caused by understaffing by health care corporations,” Renée Saldaña, press secretary of UHW-West Health, said in a statement to CNN last week. “We support all health care workers who are organizing and taking a stance to improve staffing.”
