New York (CNN) 鈥� Employees at two of the largest drugstore chains in the United States say harsh working conditions make it difficult to safely fill prescriptions, which could put the health of their customers at risk. Now, they鈥檙e demanding change by staging a series of walkouts across the country.
Pharmacy employees at some stores, including pharmacists, technicians and support staff, are planning a walkout between October 9-11, an organizer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the chain, confirmed to CNN. Some employees plan to walk out for just one day, while others expect to shutter their pharmacies for all three days.
Employees at more than 500 of America鈥檚 approximately 9,000 Walgreens stores across the United States have expressed interest and solidarity, a Walgreens pharmacy employee and walkout organizer said, though fewer will likely end up participating.
CNN spoke to employees at three Walgreens stores in three states who said they plan on walking out.
The planned action comes after pharmacy employees walked off the job at multiple CVS stores in the Kansas City area last week.
The coordinated action at some Walgreens stores is in response to what pharmacy employees call burdensome prescription and vaccination expectations levied on pharmacists from corporate management, according to the organizer. As a result, employees often find themselves falling behind and dealing with angry customers.
The company sets performance expectations based on the number of team members each pharmacy should have, said the pharmacy worker. However, in reality, staffing is much lower than that. At the same time, the worker said, they鈥檝e cut training hours for new technicians.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 believe that Walgreens is allowing us to give our patients safe care on a daily basis,鈥� the organizer explained. 鈥淲algreens isn鈥檛 responding, they鈥檙e not fixing those things.鈥�
A representative from Walgreens said the company has increased training for new pharmacists but has put a pause on what it called 鈥渘on-critical鈥� training during the busy immunization season.
Walgreens representatives also told CNN that there have never been corporate quotas and that all task-based metrics for retail pharmacy staff as part of team members鈥� performance reviews were eliminated last year. The company said it has made $265 million in incremental investments in its nationwide pharmacy team this fiscal year and has created dedicated positions to manage inventory and administrative tasks for pharmacists.
Still, one pharmacy employee who said staff at their store will participate in the walkout on Monday told CNN that they are expected and incentivized to administer more vaccines. 鈥淚 spend almost all of my day in the shot room, and if I鈥檓 not in the shot room I鈥檓 filling prescriptions because we鈥檙e so behind,鈥� they said.
鈥淭here have been nights where I鈥檝e been on the verge of tears because of how hard it is,鈥� they said. 鈥淚 had a patient give me a fist bump and tell me I was doing a good job, and that meant so much to me. The patients are caring more about us than the employer is.鈥�
Another pharmacist told CNN that he expects his pharmacy to close during the planned walkout period and that he鈥檚 heard from Walgreens pharmacists at 13 other stores in his state who are interested in participating.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to do way more harm to people in 10 more years of operating like this than we would with a three-day walkout,鈥� the pharmacist said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to try something different. Every year we get the same promises and every year we get the same Band-Aid on the problem.鈥�
In a statement to CNN, Walgreens acknowledged that pharmacy employees were overworked.
鈥淭he last few years have required an unprecedented effort from our team members, and we share their pride in this work 鈥� while recognizing it has been a very challenging time,鈥� said Fraser Engerman, a communications director at Walgreens. 鈥淲e also understand the immense pressures felt across the US in retail pharmacy right now. We are engaged and listening to the concerns raised by some of our team members.鈥�
Walgreens is 鈥渃ommitted to ensuring that our entire pharmacy team has the support and resources necessary to continue to provide the best care to our patients while taking care of their own well-being,鈥� added Engerman. 鈥淲e are making significant investments in pharmacist wages and hiring bonuses to attract/retain talent in harder to staff locations.鈥�
Walkouts at CVS
Pharmacy employees of Walgreens and CVS and pharmacist advocates told CNN that their work has always been difficult, but the pandemic made things near impossible. Employees describe severe and chronic understaffing, low pay, high vaccination quotas, long stretches without bathroom breaks, abusive management and violent customers.
Inspired by across the country this year, they鈥檙e saying enough is enough and organizing walkouts as part of what some labor advocates are calling 鈥減harmageddon.鈥�
In September, CVS pharmacists shuttered as many as 22 pharmacies in two walkouts over two weeks in the Kansas City area in a planned protest, prompting executives from the Rhode Island-based retailer to meet with staff and assure that additional support and higher overtime pay were coming.
鈥淧harmacists are doing exactly what they鈥檝e been trained to do, which is evaluate the situation and take whatever action is necessary to ensure that they鈥檙e providing the best patient care,鈥� said Michael Hogue, CEO of the American Pharmacists Association, who traveled to Kansas City to meet with CVS executives and walkout organizers this week. 鈥淲e have a widespread problem in the US of inadequate staffing in community-based pharmacies.鈥�
Prem Shah, CVS鈥檚 chief pharmacy officer and president of pharmacy and consumer wellness, issued an internal memo, reviewed by CNN, apologizing to his pharmacy teams for failing to address the concerns in the region more quickly.
Another meeting with Shah is planned for late next week, but no time or location has been set, a CVS walkout organizer told CNN.
CVS representatives told CNN that no specific meeting has been arranged because executives don鈥檛 see this as a 鈥渙ne-time meeting or update,鈥� situation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a continuous two-way dialogue to share how we鈥檙e meeting the commitments we made to our teams and to continue to hear their direct feedback,鈥� said Amy Thibault, lead director of external communications for CVS Pharmacy.
鈥淲e鈥檙e committed to providing access to consistent, safe, high-quality health care to the patients and communities we serve and are working with our pharmacists to directly address any concerns they may have,鈥� Thibault told CNN in a statement. 鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on developing a sustainable, scalable action plan that can be put in place in markets where support may be needed so we can continue delivering the high-quality care our patients depend on.鈥�
A lead organizer of the CVS walkouts in Kansas City told CNN that if there is no meeting this week there could be another round of labor action.
A national movement
Even a day without access to medication would be disastrous for Americans, said Amanda Applegate with the Kansas Pharmacists Association. 鈥淏ut making sure that you鈥檙e getting those prescriptions out in a timely, efficient and safe manner is [why] pharmacists are walking out,鈥� she said. Pharmacists aren鈥檛 demanding huge pay increases and vacation days, she added, they鈥檙e asking for more help to get their jobs done.
This week, more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers , citing similar problems and marking the largest health care worker strike in US history.
Pharmacist advocates believe that the walkouts will likely continue for some time. CVS and Walgreens pharmacists are not currently represented by a union and these efforts have been coordinated by individual workers. However, multiple sources told CNN that employees at CVS and Walgreens have recently been in touch with union groups.
While Kansas City 鈥渉as been a tinderbox,鈥� said Applegate, these walkouts could have happened anywhere.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard job on a good day. It鈥檚 an incredibly rewarding job, but it鈥檚 hard,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so the idea of pharmacists essentially being turned into ATMs in these environments, encouraging volume over quality, is why this is happening.鈥�
This story has been updated with new information.
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