Pharmacists and other employees at Walgreens stores across the country have reportedly pledged to walk out of work this week due to harsh work conditions in the chain’s pharmacy departments. The disruption, which some are calling “Pharmageddon” and others “Operation Spotlight,” could make it hard for many Americans to get their prescriptions filled.
The walkouts are planned for Monday, October 9, to Wednesday, October 11. Organizers have said on Reddit that employees from 500 stores have pledged to walk out.
At the heart of the matter are the working conditions pharmacists and pharmacy staff face at Walgreens across the country. Many say they are overworked, are burdened with unrealistic expectations from corporate management, and have departments that are short-staffed, CNN reported last week.
The training that staff members receive has also been reduced. These challenges are leaving pharmacists and staff feeling burned out, and many fear that the conditions could impact the safety of patients who get their prescriptions filled at the 9,000 Walgreens across the country.
“We’re going to do way more harm to people in 10 more years of operating like this than we would with a three-day walkout,” a pharmacist at one store told CNN. “It’s time to try something different. Every year we get the same promises and every year we get the same Band-Aid on the problem.”
Pharmacists and technicians at Walgreens are not represented by a union, so the walkout is being orchestrated primarily by word of mouth between employees and in online forums, such as the WalgreensStores subreddit.
Reached for comment, Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman told Fast Company that the pharmacy chain was aware of the workers’ concerns. In a statement, Engerman did not address the potential impact of the walkout on prescription access.
“The last few years have required an unprecedented effort from our team members, and we share their pride in this work — while recognizing it has been a very challenging time,” Engerman said. “We also understand the immense pressures felt across the U.S. in retail pharmacy right now. We are engaged and listening to the concerns raised by some of our team members. We are committed 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 wellbeing. We are making significant investments in pharmacist wages and hiring bonuses to attract/retain talent in harder to staff locations.”
The Walgreens pharmacy walkout would follow the walkouts by CVS pharmacists last month. In September, pharmacists at 22 CVS locations in Kansas City walked off the job to highlight the lack of support, resources, and the stress pharmacists were under.
“Pharmacists are doing exactly what they’ve been trained to do, which is evaluate the situation and take whatever action is necessary to ensure that they’re providing the best patient care,” Michael Hogue, CEO of the American Pharmacists Association, told CNN. Hogue is meeting with walkout organizers and CVS management this week to discuss the challenges pharmacists face.
The pharmacy walkouts follow the largest healthcare worker strike in U.S. history last week when 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers walked off the job to highlight working and pay conditions.
If the Walgreens walkouts move ahead as planned, 500 or more stores could see pharmacy operations impacted until at least Wednesday. Though it’s unknown which stores may see walkouts, one of the organizers said on Reddit that the stores cover 49 states. Pharmacists at CVS and Walgreens have also reportedly met with union groups, though a formal effort to unionize has not been announced.
This post has been updated with Walgreens’s response.
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