Osco Pharmacists: Get the Facts About the Company’s Contract Offer
Osco management has been distributing a summary of its contract offer to pharmacists. But the company’s handout does not tell the whole story.
- Notably absent from Osco’s summary of changes is the company’s unreasonable proposal to strip contract rights and force newly hired or any newly promoted pharmacist (including part-timers promoted to full-time) to work without limitation on Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.
- The Teamsters Local 727 Bargaining Committee had to fight for every single change in the contract. Nearly all of the proposals that have been tentatively agreed upon were union proposals.
- Osco management persistently rejected the union’s proposed changes and put up roadblocks to progress. It was only after many days of bargaining — with the Bargaining Committee repeatedly speaking up at the table and refuting management’s unfounded logic — that the company agreed to simple improvements, such as new uniforms, uninterrupted breaks and pharmacists not having to clean bathrooms.
- What’s more, Osco is using its health care comparison to distract from the comparison that really matters: Pharmacists and Jewel-Osco warehouse employees. Pharmacists are being forced to pay $32.98-$267.49 more per month in premium contributions than warehouse employees for the exact same company HRA plan, whether or not pharmacists participate in Healthy Pursuits. Osco also agreed to freeze warehouse employees’ contribution rates for the life of their new contract.
- The company has provided no explanation for the numbers in its chart, which supposedly compares compensation for Osco, CVS and Walgreens pharmacists. During negotiations, the union put together a comprehensive total compensation comparison chart, complete with the data to back it up. CLICK HERE to see the union’s compensation comparison chart
- It appears that Osco’s chart fails to account for the Teamsters Local 727 Legal & Educational Assistance Benefit that CVS pharmacists enjoy and the rich retirement benefits offered by CVS and Walgreens. It’s also important to note that for the CVS plan most comparable plan to Osco’s most popular plan, CVS pharmacists pay only $69.08-$75.96 per month — a savings of more than $900 per year compared to Osco’s HRA plan participants.
“No matter how the company tries to dress up its proposal, the truth is that they haven’t listened to pharmacists and they don’t care about what matters most to you,” said John T. Coli, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 727. “It’s time to stand together and continue to fight the battle that the Bargaining Committee has been waging against Osco’s unreasonable demands.”
