In October, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians at Walgreens and CVS began walking off the job in scattered stores across the U.S. As a result, the intersection of retail and healthcare grew slightly more chaotic after already weathering a difficult few years amid the pandemic and an ongoing ramp-up of immunizations.
Initially, the effects of the walkout on Walgreens were declared to be “minimal” and only led to shutting down a relatively small number of pharmacies in the chain for a few days. Yet a second round of walkouts followed with the grassroots effort gathering on social media. This was a loosely coordinated movement up to this point, but their chosen labels, “Pharmageddon” and “Operation Spotlight,” did not lack subtlety.
Naturally, this spotlight led to some union attention. Granted, some CVS and Kroger pharmacy workers are already unionized under the UFCW, and United Healthcare Workers East claims to represent around 5,000 pharmacy workers at hospitals and retail. However, it’s become the union-poaching season for pharmacy workers because an unlikely union is swooping in with a total membership of 700,000 workers in various trades.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, operating under the IAM Healthcare umbrella, recently extended its affiliation to the newly launched PharmacyGuild.org. This movement is mainly present online with boosts from online accounts, including The Accidental Pharmacist and RX Comedy, along with the #PizzaIsNotWorking hashtag. Those accounts claim to have a total of 300,000 followers.
The founding statement of the Pharmacy Guild describes this combined effort as “more than a union organizing effort.” Make no mistake: This unionizing effort is primarily fueled by a former Walgreens pharmacist, Dr. Shane Jerominski, who runs The Accidental Pharmacist Facebook page. Jerominski has set the goal of rounding up around 100,000 Walgreens and CVS pharmacy workers who wish to organize. He believes that number is achievable because “there is mass dissatisfaction with the state of the pharmacy right now.”
Judging from the various Reddit threads on the subject, the guild is able to spread its message easily. Some workers feel that executives have dismissed their concerns and that their profession sits on the brink. However, Reddit threads are not typically a great way to measure organizational engagement and health.
Indeed, retail pharmacy is not for the faint of heart. Rite-Aid recently filed for bankruptcy, and macroeconomic forces continue to apply pressure to workers who are already wading through particularly delicate subject matter when it comes to customer service. Reported 12-hour shifts for some retail pharmacists aren’t helping matters, and retail metrics are bound to cause friction when applied to the healthcare industry.
Walgreens faces the brunt of this collision of retail economics and worker empowerment. The company’s well-documented financial woes now contribute to its staffing issues, and a new CEO hopes to right the ship on that end. A company representative also addressed how the company is working to ease up on pharmacists’ workloads while beefing up recruitment and retention efforts to improve patient safety and address worker concerns at the store level.
Still, IAMAW is proving that UAW can’t have all the fun these days with poaching. Then again, Shawn Fain might not be having much fun this week with the nail-biting Big Three vote tally. We will keep an eye on this unlikely alliance and keep you updated.
