U.S. News
Major Disruptions Ahead at Walgreens
Clear Facts:
- Pharmacy staff at select U.S. Walgreens plan a walkout between Monday and Wednesday.
- Employees are protesting burdensome prescription and vaccination tasks.
- Walgreens states they are addressing concerns, boosting wages and offering hiring bonuses.
Pharmacy employees across various Walgreens stores in the U.S., ranging from pharmacists and technicians to support staff, are planning a walkout next week, as revealed by CNN via an organizing source.
Reportedly, while some of the employees intend to partake in the walkout for just a single day, there are others who anticipate closing their pharmacies for the entire three-day duration.
These actions have been reported to involve employees from three states.
The main driver behind this drastic action? Employees have voiced that they’re being overwhelmed by “burdensome prescription and vaccination expectations” according to the same report.
Walgreens has already responded to these looming actions.
In an official email, the company stated, “We are making significant investments in pharmacist wages and hiring bonuses to attract/retain talent in harder to staff locations.”
This suggests that the company is not only acknowledging the grievances but is actively working to address them.
To place this event within a broader context, just this week the U.S. healthcare sector witnessed its most massive strike ever.
Kaiser Permanente’s nurses, medical technicians, and other supporting staff went on strike across hospitals and clinics, lasting for a total of 72 hours. With 75,000 workers participating, the strike ended on Friday.
Both sides have agreed to jumpstart the halted contract talks.
However, union leaders have signaled potential future walkouts, highlighting the tensions still present.
We want to know what you think! Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Derf Milac
October 18, 2023 at 7:27 am
Outlaw the unions along with the democrats; problem solved.
Arlene Boots
October 18, 2023 at 2:44 pm
I would just take my prescriptions to another pharmacy.
stuman15
October 18, 2023 at 3:31 pm
If you do not like you job, quit and find another one.
Al
October 18, 2023 at 11:21 pm
Derf Milac has the correct solution. Actually to ALL of our problems!
Janice Hernandez
October 19, 2023 at 4:28 am
I’m actually in support of them. I get my scripts there and can see they’re swamped and working very hard but with way too few workers. They make a lot of mistakes (sometimes very serious ones) and don’t always have the prescriptions ready when they said they would. When I do have to call them, I’m typically on hold for twenty minutes to an hour. Once they picked-up and immediately put me back on hold TEN times (I counted.) They’re getting a very bad reputation locally. Whenever I mention having problems with Walgreens to my doctors they roll their eyes and say “everyone does”. The techs have apologized and said the problem is they “can’t keep employees”, that whenever they do hire new techs, they leave as soon as they experience the working conditions. And I don’t blame them as working under such constant stress can eventually make one physically ill. I’ve reported this to Walgreens home office several times, putting in a good word for the staff but emphasizing that they’re just too short-staffed. In fact, when I told the techs I did this, they actually thanked me. I read there is a pharmacy tech shortage nationwide and that “technicians are clearly feeling the strain.” Raising their pay may help but they’ll still have a high turnover rate unless they can improve the working conditions. I also suggested that they get a phone system where customers can leave messages, or hire a part time person just to answer the phones. At least that would reduce the stress of the phone ringing all the time and be less aggravating to the customers. So I do support their action to strike, even though I may have face some inconvenience. It will be worth it if they can resolve these issues and improve customer service.
Anna DeBlanc
November 23, 2023 at 7:35 am
I’m a retired RN. The nursing shortage was around when I graduated in the 70s.The major problem I see started when hospitals decided it was a good idea to mandate the flu shot or no work. Now they feel they can mandate anything. Patients are sicker and DEI policies are dumbing down our nurses and others. Personally, I hope God takes me in my sleep as I have no desire to go to a hospital in this day and age. When hospitals can take money to force deadly treatments on patients so they get a payoff is criminal!
Country sunshine
December 6, 2023 at 5:47 pm
Walgreens is the best pharmacy I have ever used. Answer this question have you ever seen anyone in the pharmacy sit down. They are on the go all day phone drive-thru and people inside. Used to work great when there were enough people to work.