WOONSOCKET – Pharmacy staff at two CVS Health Corp. locations in the southern part of the state voted to unionize with The Pharmacy Guild, according to a CNBC report Friday.
Workers at the 24-hour CVS Pharmacies in in the Wakefield section of South Kingstown and Westerly were the company’s first stores to unionize in Rhode Island.
The two CVS locations in Rhode Island were the second and third to seek membership in the Pharmacy Guild after CVS-owned Omnicare location in Las Vegas filed a petition in March.
CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault said in a statement that if the vote results are confirmed by the National Labor Relations Board, the company will negotiate in good faith with the union to try to reach an agreement.
"While we believe the direct, two-way relationship we have with our colleagues is the best way to resolve workplace concerns, we have professional and productive relationships with our thousands of union employees and their union representatives," Thibault said. "We’ll continue to work closely and collaboratively with all our colleagues to address any concerns they have now and in the future and are committed to providing a positive and rewarding work environment."
The Pharmacy Guild, which operates under IAM Healthcare, was created in November last year after thousands of pharmacy employees from several chains throughout the country walked out to protest hazardous work conditions. For years pharmacy workers have said understaffing in pharmacies throughout the U.S. has reached “crisis levels,” resulting in burnout.
“These are the first brick-and-mortar classic CVS model” stores to join the union, Shane Jerominski, a community pharmacist and co-founder of the Pharmacy Guild, told CNBC. “This is really where my heart is … we’ve all worked for Walgreens or CVS in the classic retail setting, so we all know the working conditions there.”
Jerominski and other organizers of a nationwide walkout of pharmacy staff in the fall partnered with IAM Healthcare – a union representing thousands of health care professionals – to launch the Pharmacy Guild in November, according to the CNBC report. That work stoppage spanned major drugstore chains such as CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid and drew widespread media attention to workers’ concerns.
