CVS union workers to demand company improve work conditions, rehire laid off employees
WAKEFIELD, R.I. (WLNE) — CVS union workers in Rhode Island held a “day of action” Thursday against what they call illegal layoffs and insufficient staffing levels by the company.
The Pharmacy Guild/IAM union demanded that CVS raise the staffing numbers and recall the laid off workers at a press conference at the Wakefield CVS.
The union claims that the company laid off workers who attempted to organize a union at Omnicare in Las Vegas.
Omnicare is a nursing home pharmacy company acquired by CVS in 2015.
The union members are also demanding that CVS allow for them to be given “the time needed to properly review each prescription to keep patients safe.”
“Under immense time pressures set by grueling schedules, pharmacists are currently expected to spend less than 1 minute reviewing each prescription that comes through their system,” the Pharmacy Guild/IAM said in a press release.
When reached for comment on claims made by the union, a CVS representative said, in part:
We’ve been negotiating an initial collective bargaining agreement in good faith with The Pharmacy Guild and certain Wakefield pharmacy colleagues for nearly a year and will continue to do so until we reach an agreement…the Pharmacy Guild’s claims that job reductions in other parts of the country have been in retaliation for union activity are 100% false.
We’re committed to ensuring there are appropriate levels of staffing and resources at our pharmacies. We regularly make investments in our CVS Pharmacy locations – in Rhode Island and nationwide – to help ensure our teams are supported and can deliver excellent service and care to our patients…Claims that pharmacists are required to spend “less than a minute reviewing each prescription” are not true.
We dispense millions of prescriptions at our more than 9,000 CVS Pharmacy locations each year, as well as administer vaccinations, answer medication questions, and provide counsel and advice…We have an excellent safety record, and we’re committed to continually improving on it.
