Oh CVS Omnicare has become a pharmacy in Las Vegas. First place Joining a new national pharmacy union, a milestone for organizers trying to help thousands of U.S. pharmacy workers face what they say are unsafe working conditions.
About 30 pharmacy staff at CVS’ Omnicare’s Las Vegas branch His union won the election Thursday by a landslide margin of 87% to 13%, according to a guild press release. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians there fill prescriptions for elderly and other vulnerable patients in long-term care facilities in Nevada.
Those workers have now joined. Pharmacy Guildwho will represent them in labor negotiations with CVS.
“We’re going to try to get the best deal in the industry for the people who have trusted our union to represent them. This is a historic win and a very decisive one,” said Shane Jerominski, a community pharmacist and co-founder of the Pharmacy Guild told CNBC.
Jerominski and other organizers of the recent nationwide walkout of pharmacy staff partnered with IAM Healthcare – a union representing thousands of healthcare professionals – to launch the Pharmacy Guild in November. The shutdown in late October, dubbed “Pharmageddon” by organizers, sent major drugstore chains such as CVS, Walgreens And Write AidBringing media attention to the scope of workers’ concerns.
Like the walkout effort, the pharmacy guild’s goal is to help pharmacy staff face what many employees say are unsafe staffing levels and increasing workloads across the industry that put both employees and patients at risk. The guild also calls for legislative and regulatory changes to establish higher standards of practice in pharmacies to protect patients.
The unionization effort is the culmination of years of growing discontent among retail pharmacy staff, who often grapple with understaffed teams and increased work expectations imposed by corporate management. The Covid pandemic exacerbated these problems, as new duties such as testing and vaccination stretched pharmacists and technicians even further.
In a statement, a CVS Health spokeswoman said the company respects the right of its employees to unionize or refrain from unionizing, including the decision of Omnicare Las Vegas workers to choose union representation. The company added that it will work “closely and collaboratively” with its employees to address their current and future concerns and is “committed to providing a positive and rewarding work environment.”
Omnicare, which was acquired by CVS in 2015, is not a publicly-exposed pharmacy like the chain’s nearly 10,000 locations. According to the CVS website, there are Omnicare pharmacies in 49 states.
But Omnicare and other pharmacies have the same problems, from staffing levels to low starting pay for technicians, Jerominski said.
“It’s not specific to Omnicare, the problems they were expressing were the same problems I’m hearing all over the country. It’s everywhere in all the big chains,” Jerominski said. “You can only ask a company to help you for so long. … That’s why the walkout happened. Finally they said ‘No, we’re going to get the help we ask for.’
The Pharmacy Guild will now work on a union agreement with CVS to address the concerns of Omnicare workers in Las Vegas. Jerominski said those employees want consistent work schedules that guarantee pharmacy technicians 40 hours a week.
“You can’t retain people who have the expertise and a family, especially with the level of stress of this job, if you don’t even guarantee them 40 hours,” Jerominski told CNBC. Give.”
Pharmacy Guild is seeing rapid construction in other parts of the country. Pharmacy workers at two retail stores in Rhode Island have officially confirmed they have filed to unionize with the guild, according to Jerominski.
CVS is headquartered in the state.
Credit : www.cnbc.com
