Walgreens pharmacy staff go on strike over working conditions – WSOC TV
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NEW YORK — (AP) — Walgreens has named a new CEO after pharmacy staff left this week over concerns that working conditions were putting employees and patients at risk.
Tim Wentworth, former president of pharmacy benefits management company Express Scripts, was appointed CEO on October 23. Rosalind Brewer, former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, resigned in late August as the company struggled with drug and staffing shortages.
The exact scale of the pharmacists’ protest is unclear. Organizers estimated Tuesday that more than 300 Walgreens stores were affected by the walkout, which was scheduled for Monday through Wednesday, out of about 9,000 Walgreens stores nationwide. A company spokesperson said “only a dozen or so” pharmacies were affected by the disruption.
A Walgreens pharmacy manager who helped organize the walkout told The Associated Press that his team is understaffed and overworked, especially with the added demands of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We ended up angering our customers,” the organizer told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of punishment from the company. “That’s leading to medication errors, vaccination errors, and needle sticks.”
Many Walgreens employees are not unionized, and those who left are organizing online. According to the organizers, they shared three main requests for the company. Increase transparency regarding time and schedule changes. Reserve training time for new team members. Adjust tasks and expectations for each location based on staffing levels.
Organizers said more strikes could occur at the end of the month if Walgreens does not address the concerns of pharmacy staff.
Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman said the company is listening to employee concerns.
“We are working to ensure that our entire pharmacy team has the support and resources they need to continue to provide the best care to our patients while protecting their own health,” Engerman said in a statement. mentioned in.
Drugstores across the country are facing heavy workloads ahead of the fall busy season. There was also a walkout at CVS locations in the Kansas City area last month, after which the company promised to increase hiring.
Bred Tanoe, a retired pharmacist who has been supporting the strike on social media, says many of these fundamental concerns about working conditions have been building up over many years. But the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problem, adding new demands such as testing and vaccinations without “adequate support for those on the other side of the window,” she said. Ta.
Brewer, who left in late August, said the company was restricting hours at its 1,100 pharmacies, about 12% of its U.S. stores. That’s down from 1,600 stores earlier this year, but company executives said they don’t expect all pharmacies to return to normal business hours by the end of the year.
Walgreens Executive Chairman Stefano Pessina said in a statement that the company was seeking a CEO with “deep healthcare experience.”
“We are confident that he is the right person to lead WBA’s next phase of growth into a customer-centric healthcare company,” said Pessina.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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