NORFOLK, Va. — Hundreds of Walgreens employees were walking off the job Oct. 9-11, reportedly protesting working conditions.
The protest follows a similar move by CVS employees in September.
Similarly, tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees went on strike Oct. 4. The strike is the largest U.S. health care strike ever.
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Kaiser Permanente workers drive largest US health care strike ever
“It’s extremely frustrating," said a Hampton Roads woman who works for a chain pharmacy.
She didn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation and losing her job but said working conditions are preventing pharmacy staff from being able to do their jobs.
“This has been festering for several years," she said. "We’ve continued to be cut short on technician hours, or support hours, in situations where we’ve had pharmacist overlap because the volume requires you to have more than one pharmacist on duty. They’ve cut the overlap out so now one pharmacist is doing the job of two pharmacists.”
She’s not surprised the walkouts are happening and said pharmacies need to be properly staffed and staff need to be properly trained.
In a statement, a Walgreens spokesperson acknowledged the past few years have been challenging for staff and the company is “engaged and listening to the concerns raised by some of our team members."
"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. We 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."
“Some of these pharmacists are working 40-50 hours a week in a situation that is very mentally taxing. If I was still in their position, I would probably consider standing up with them to do the walkout," the pharmacy worker said.
Peoples Pharmacy Owner Dr. Anna Peoples said the two biggest challenges in the industry right now are getting a supply of the latest COVID-19 vaccine and dealing with a shortage of pharmacists.
“It’s a profession of long hours and hard work pretty much," said Peoples.
She also said chain companies are pushing small community pharmacies out of business.
“This year alone, two of our local community pharmacies have closed. I won’t say it was necessarily because of the large chains, but definitely they had some influence in it," Peoples explained.
A recent post in a Facebook group by a Hampton Roads resident sharing their struggle dealing with a chain pharmacy sparked a discussion about the pharmacy industry.
“It is rewarding in that we do help a great deal of people and are able to provide a lot of information, but it’s a demanding profession," said Peoples.
