Two
CVS
stores
close
to
CVS
Health’s
headquarters
in
Rhode
Island
have
filed
petitions
to
join
the
Pharmacy
Guild,
which
is
building
a
national
pharmacy
union,
one
organizer
confirmed
to
MedCity
News
on
Monday.
The
news
was
first
reported
by
USA
Today.
One
of
the
CVS
stores
is
in
Wakefield,
while
the
other
is
in
Westerly.
Both
locations
are
24-hour
pharmacies
and
are
about
an
hour
from
CVS
Health’s
headquarters
in
Woonsocket.
Each
has
about
five
pharmacists
who
are
severely
overworked,
declared
Shane
Jerominski,
a
pharmacist
and
co-founder
of
the
Pharmacy
Guild.
“They
do
close
to
7,000
prescriptions
a
week.
You
would
think,
‘Wait
a
minute,
they
must
have
an
army
of
pharmacists
to
do
that.’
But
no,
even
though
they’re
24
hours,
they
don’t
have
that
many
people,”
Jerominski
said
in
an
interview.
“That’s
a
lot
of
responsibility
for
a
handful
of
pharmacists
and
a
lot
of
patients’
lives
on
the
line.”
He
added
that
getting
stores
so
close
to
CVS’
headquarters
is
a
“slam
dunk”
for
the
union.
The
stores
are
the
second
and
third
locations
to
file
petitions
to
join
the
Pharmacy
Guild
after
an
Omnicare
pharmacy
location
in
Las
Vegas
filed
in
late
March
(Omnicare
is
CVS-owned).
The
petitions
at
the
Rhode
Island
locations
only
include
pharmacists
and
not
pharmacy
technicians,
though
Jerominski
expects
them
to
join
soon.
The
Las
Vegas
location
includes
both
pharmacists
and
pharmacy
technicians,
totaling
about
31
people.
The
petitions
are
filed
with
the
National
Labor
Relations
Board
(NLRB),
an
independent
federal
agency
that
enforces
U.S.
labor
law.
After
a
petition
is
filed,
the
NLRB
could
set
a
date
for
an
election,
which
certifies
or
decertifies
“a
union
as
the
bargaining
representative
of
a
unit
of
employees,”
according
to
the
NLRB
website.
If
more
than
50%
of
the
workers
vote
yes
to
unionizing
during
the
election,
they
can
be
represented
by
the
Pharmacy
Guild.
The
Las
Vegas
location
has
an
election
scheduled
for
April
24.
Michael
DeAngelis,
executive
director
of
corporate
communications
at
CVS
Health,
said
in
an
email
that
the
company
respects
its
“employees’
right
to
either
unionize
or
refrain
from
doing
so.
We
believe
the
direct,
two-way
relationship
we
have
with
our
colleagues
is
the
best
way
to
resolve
workplace
concerns.
We
continually
listen
to
our
colleagues’
feedback
which
helps
inform
our
programs
and
policies.”
He
added
that
since
2021,
CVS
has
invested
about
$1
billion
in
wage
increases.
In
addition,
it
is
giving
“tens
of
millions
of
dollars
in
bonuses”
to
pharmacists
and
pharmacy
technicians
in
2024.
The
Pharmacy
Guild
launched
in
November
after
a
series
of
walkouts
occurred
in
the
fall
among
Walgreens
and
CVS
employees.
It
is
working
to
build
the
first
national
pharmacy
union
in
the
U.S.
and
was
created
in
partnership
with
IAM
Healthcare,
a
union
of
diverse
healthcare
professionals,
including
nurses,
medical
administrators
and
lab
technicians.
The
Pharmacy
Guild
has
several
demands,
including
better
wages
and
secure
hours
for
pharmacy
technicians,
an
improved
workload
for
pharmacists
and
minimum
staffing
requirements.
If
changes
aren’t
made,
much
is
at
stake,
Jerominski
said.
“These
are
not
poor
companies
that
are
trying
to
sustain
a
business,”
Jerominski
said.
“It’s
always
about
shareholder
supremacy
for
companies
like
CVS
and
Walgreens
and
chain
pharmacies.
It’s
never
about
patient
safety
or
employee
safety
or
the
employee’s
ability
to
keep
their
license.
If
the
pharmacist
makes
a
mistake,
their
license
is
on
the
line,
their
ability
to
practice
and
support
their
family
for
the
rest
of
their
career
is
at
stake.”
He
added
that
the
Pharmacy
Guild
plans
to
file
a
petition
for
a
pharmacy
location
every
week
or
two
weeks
for
the
next
few
months,
whether
that’s
against
a
CVS,
Walgreens
or
another
chain.
The
organization’s
goal
is
to
have
“the
majority
of
community
practice
pharmacies
unionized
in
the
next
five
years.”
Photo:
Justin
Sullivan/Getty
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