‘They Don’t Care About Us’: CVS Ignores Pharmacists’ Concerns
After seven negotiation meetings with the Teamsters Local 727 Bargaining Committee, CVS management is still refusing to listen to pharmacists’ concerns about their diminishing working conditions.
“They don’t value any of our concerns. They’re trying to get rid of the profession of pharmacy and make it just a job,” said CVS pharmacist steward Chuck Zuraitis, a Bargaining Committee member. “We’re on the front lines every day, and yet, they don’t care about our perspective. Really, they don’t care about us.”
Meanwhile, CVS Health on Tuesday reported its revenue jumped nearly 19 percent to $43.2 billion in the first quarter of 2016.
The union has presented proposals relating to tech hours, overlap, metrics, vacation coverage, “administrative hours” to complete tasks and other working conditions.
However, during Tuesday’s meeting, the company dug in its heels on its unreasonable demands to force pharmacists to work longer shifts with inadequate staffing levels and to retain the unfettered rights to change store hours and reduce pharmacists’ work hours.
“This gigantic corporation has been completely unresponsive to the union’s proposals, which all came straight from the pharmacists themselves,” said John Coli Jr., President of Local 727. “It’s beyond frustrating, so I can only imagine how frustrated our pharmacists are with being treated so unfairly by the company they have dedicated their careers to.”
Additionally, Local 727 filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board because the company is insisting on bargaining over non-mandatory subjects.
If you have questions, contact your Local 727 business representative, Melissa Senatore, at (847) 696-7500 or [email protected].
