WAKEFIELD, R.I. (WJAR) — Union workers at CVS pharmacies said they are holding a national day of action in response to working in unsafe conditions.
Workers said they are demanding safe staffing levels, reasonable workloads and a voice in pharmacy decision-making.
A sign being held by a union worker outside of CVS. (WJAR)
Union members were seen gathered outside the 24-hour store in Wakefield Thursday afternoon.
Members said pharmacists have less than one minute to review prescriptions.
CVS sent the following statement to NBC 10:
“We’ve been negotiating an initial collective bargaining agreement in good faith with The Pharmacy Guild and certain Wakefield pharmacy colleagues for nearly a year and will continue to do so until we reach an agreement. There have been no layoffs of any retail colleagues in Rhode Island this year, and the Pharmacy Guild’s claims that job reductions in other parts of the country have been in retaliation for union activity are 100% false.
We’re committed to ensuring there are appropriate levels of staffing and resources at our pharmacies. We regularly make investments in our CVS Pharmacy locations – in Rhode Island and nationwide – to help ensure our teams are supported and can deliver excellent service and care to our patients. Ongoing actions we’ve taken include scheduling additional support, enhancing recruitment and hiring, strengthening training programs, and introducing innovative tools to support workload and workflow. In fact, we’ve been receiving an outpouring of positive feedback from our pharmacy colleagues about new technology we’ve rolled out – like our dynamic workload sharing model and our new pharmacy phone system – which have given them more time to spend directly with their patients. All these investments have had a meaningful, positive impact on the working environment in our pharmacies and enable our pharmacy teams to better focus on patient care. Claims that pharmacists are required to spend “less than a minute reviewing each prescription” are not true.
Patient safety is our highest priority, and any claims otherwise are untrue. Millions of patients trust us with their health, and we’re passionate about delivering high quality care. We dispense millions of prescriptions at our more than 9,000 CVS Pharmacy locations each year, as well as administer vaccinations, answer medication questions, and provide counsel and advice. Our more than 30,000 CVS pharmacists approach this responsibility with seriousness and dedication, and we work hard to provide care for our pharmacy patients. We have an excellent safety record, and we’re committed to continually improving on it.”