The CVS Pharmacy logo is displayed on a sign above a CVS Health Corp. store. in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 7, 2024.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
A CVS in Las Vegas has become the first site to join a new national pharmacists union, an important step as organizers try to help thousands of U.S. pharmaceutical workers address what they call unsafe working conditions.
Nearly 30 pharmacy workers at the Las Vegas branch of CVS Omnicare won union elections Thursday by a landslide margin of 87 percent to 13 percent. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians fill prescriptions there for seniors and other vulnerable patients in Nevada’s long-term care facilities.
These workers are now joining the Pharmacy Guild, which will represent them in collective bargaining with CVS.
“We are going to try to get the best contract in the industry for these people who have trusted our union to represent them. This is a historic and very decisive victory,” said Shane Jerominski, community pharmacist and co-founder of The Pharmacy Guild, told CNBC.
Jerominski and other organizers of a recent national pharmacy workers’ walkout teamed up with IAM Healthcare – a union representing thousands of healthcare professionals – to launch the Pharmacy Guild in November. This late October work stoppage, which organizers dubbed “Pharmageddon,” affected major pharmacy chains like CVS, Walgreens And Rite-Help and drew media attention to the scale of workers’ concerns.
Much like the walkout effort, the Pharmacy Guild aims to help pharmacy staff deal with what many employees call unsafe staffing levels and increasing workloads across the industry that are putting pressure on employees and patients at risk. The guild is also calling for legislative and regulatory changes to establish higher standards of practice in pharmacies to protect patients.
The unionization effort is the culmination of years of growing discontent among retail pharmacy staff, who often struggle with understaffed shifts and rising job expectations imposed by company management. The Covid pandemic has only exacerbated these problems, as new tasks such as testing and vaccination have strained pharmacists and technicians.
In a statement, a CVS spokesperson said the company respects its employees’ rights to unionize or refrain from doing so, including Omnicare Las Vegas workers’ decision to choose union representation . The company added that it would work “closely” with its employees to address their current and future concerns and was “committed to providing a positive and enriching work environment.”
Omnicare, acquired by CVS in 2015, is not a public pharmacy like most of the chain’s nearly 10,000 locations. There are Omnicare pharmacies in 49 states, according to the CVS website.
But Omnicare and other pharmacies share the same problems, which range from staffing levels to low starting pay for technicians, Jerominski said.
“It’s not specific to Omnicare, the issues they’ve expressed are the same ones I’m hearing across the country. It’s pervasive across all major chains,” Jerominski said. “You can only ask a company to support you for a limited period of time… That’s why the walkouts happened. They finally said, ‘No, we’re going to get the help we demand.'”
The Pharmacy Guild will now work to reach a collective bargaining agreement with CVS to address the concerns of Omnicare workers in Las Vegas. Jerominski said these employees want consistent work schedules that guarantee pharmacy technicians 40 hours per week year-round.
“You can’t retain people with a skill set and a family, especially with the stress level of this job, if you don’t even guarantee them their 40 hours,” Jerominski told CNBC.
The Pharmacists Guild sees momentum building in other parts of the country. Pharmacy staff at two Rhode Island retail stores have officially confirmed they have filed a union application with the guild, according to Jerominski.
CVS’s headquarters is based in the state.
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