First Walgreens Pharmacists File to Join New National Union

Pharmacists and technicians at a Walgreens store in Vancouver, Washington are seeking an election to join the Pharmacy Guild, the new national union told MedPage Today.

The group of 10 pharmacy professionals marks the first set of Walgreens employees to file to join the Pharmacy Guild, as well as the first group in Washington state to do so, according to the union.

“We care deeply for our patients — their health and safety is our top priority in this drive to unionize,” the Vancouver Walgreens workers said in a group statement. “We are united with a strong majority to make positive change. We call on Walgreens to not only respect our rights to unionize, but to actively work with us to improve conditions for both patients and pharmacy professionals.”

Previously, pharmacists and technicians at another retail giant — CVS — successfully voted to join the Pharmacy Guild, as MedPage Today reported.

“I want this filing and this eventual win to illustrate that it’s not just CVS pharmacists and technicians that we’re going after,” Shane Jerominski, PharmD, a community pharmacist and co-founder of the Pharmacy Guild, told MedPage Today. “Anywhere in the country … we can make this happen.”

The pharmacists and technicians in Washington state are representative of their colleagues elsewhere, Jerominski added. They share the same concerns about their livelihoods and their patients. And, as a group of pharmacy professionals, “we care about the profession deeply,” he continued.

In their effort to unionize, the group in Washington has cited concerns about heavy workloads, including higher prescription volumes and vaccination appointments, as well as inadequate staffing, the Pharmacy Guild stated.

Earlier this year, professionals at a CVS in Las Vegas became the first to join the Pharmacy Guild, which launched in the wake of nationwide walkouts by pharmacists and technicians last year. Shortly after, counterparts at two retail locations in Rhode Island voted to do the same, becoming the first to make the move in the retail giant’s home state.

Last fall, nationwide walkouts ensued as pharmacists and technicians at some of the biggest drugstore chains in the U.S. voiced concerns over what they described as unsafe working conditions — what organizers called “Pharmageddon,” as previously reported by MedPage Today. However, other pharmacy employees across the nation are expected to join the Pharmacy Guild as well, according to Jerominski.

The Pharmacy Guild, an initiative of IAM Healthcare, is part of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers.

“We respect the right of our team members to choose to be represented by a union, but we continue to believe the best way to maintain a positive environment is through the direct relationship between our team members and their managers, who are striving every day to achieve our shared purpose of serving our communities and reimagining local healthcare,” Walgreens said in an emailed statement. “We are fully committed to ensuring our team members’ contributions are acknowledged and rewarded, including with competitive pay and benefits.”

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