Pharmacists at CVS, America’s largest pharmacy chain, recently staged walk-outs from work in the KCMO area. They called in sick to protest corporate decisions recently put into action by CVS executives, claiming that new policies demanded unreasonable working conditions. The action was organized across 22 pharmacies, many of which closed in response to the strike. Pharmacies located within Target stores were particularly affected by closures. A second attempt at a strike was conducted with much less success about a week later.
The policies that sparked the movement involved widespread understaffing at various locations. CVS has been progressively lowering the number of hours that technicians can work each week and cutting pharmacy hours, meaning that technicians have less time to complete their allotted tasks. CVS locations inside Target’s reportedly forced their pharmacists to work in stand-alone CVS locations against their will.
According to CVS pharmacist Malik Barakat, who previously worked at a location affected by the strikes, the unrealistic work expectations have created a highly taxing environment in the pharmacy.
“With a workload that previously you would have 10 people doing, [CVS] is now expecting pharmacies to get by with around 3 or 4 people,” said the pharmacist. Similarly, strikers say their bad conditions and lack of help render them unable to manage prescriptions with the required care. The steadily increasing demand for new flu and COVID vaccines doesn’t help the situation.
Highschool student Ashika Kanakadandila, who is employed at CVS as a pharmacy technician, shared that her workload has been getting larger as people walk out from their jobs. Some pharmacists returned to work shortly after striking because they felt guilty for shoving a larger load onto fellow technicians and further holding up patients’ prescriptions.
“It’s not about people wanting extra pay, per say, or needing any reward of any sort; they are complaining of the working conditions they are having to go through. I know some people have had anxiety attacks because of things that are happening at work. Some people are crying during their shifts, before their shifts, after their shifts,” said Barakat. Barakat said the higher-ups usually send assistance to complaining employees for a few days before withdrawing it completely.
The new policy means that many employees enter their shifts completely alone. They are expected to manage the front register, drive-thru, insurance and doctoral issues, phone calls, immunizations, and (most importantly) prescriptions with no help. Barakat said he saw many cases where pharmacies were several weeks behind prescription schedule.
In response to the strikes, CVS promised to boost hiring and improve working conditions for employees. As of now, most pharmacies have reopened. Situations such as this serve as a reminder to treat all employees with compassion and respect, no matter what.
