Employees at seven CVS pharmacies in Southern California went on strike last week demanding better pay and health care. It's the latest sign of turmoil for the company, whose CEO recently resigned amid store closures and a plunge in stock price.
Employees at four stores in Los Angeles and three others in Orange County walked off the job Friday, but the pharmacies were staffed by managers and non-union employees and the stores remained open.
Employees striking outside a Los Angeles store told customers not to cross the picket line.
Workers planned to continue picketing until negotiations resumed on Wednesday. However, a company spokesperson told the Post on Monday that employees at all seven locations have returned to work and tentative agreements have been reached on new contracts.
The strike was approved by the two local Food and Commercial Workers unions involved in a vote on September 29th, with over 90% approval.
“Over the past several months, we have engaged in more than a dozen good faith negotiations with the UFCW, including six since our contract expired in June,” CVS spokeswoman Amy Thibault said in a statement. CVS spokeswoman Amy Thibault told the newspaper.
“Through the course of these discussions, we are moving forward towards finalizing the contract and have already reached a tentative agreement to increase pay rates for our store associates, including those with more than five years of service and those with more than 10 years of service. Further raises are planned for those with years of service. ”
CVS also “proposed to increase the amount CVS Health contributes to health insurance costs for those enrolled in company-sponsored health insurance.”
“There is still work to do, but we are committed to working together and hope to finalize an agreement soon.”
Melissa Acosta, a pharmacy technician and member of the bargaining committee, accused CVS last week of “intimidating workers, observing them and preventing them from speaking with union representatives.”
Acosta told The Associated Press that he enrolled in the state-run program Covered California because the premiums offered by CVS were too high.
“In the nine years I’ve worked at CVS, I’ve never been able to afford a CVS health insurance plan,” she said.
CVS is one of three large pharmacy chains sued by the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly steering diabetic patients to more expensive insulin in order to obtain millions of dollars in kickbacks from drug companies. .
CVS pharmacy technicians must complete an extensive training program and meet licensing requirements, and currently earn $24.90 an hour after five years on the job, the union said.
Technician Carlos Alfaro, who participated in the strike, said his store is understaffed as flu season begins.
“We constantly have to call (patients) to get their flu shots and get their vaccines,” Alfaro said. “In addition to filling medications at the pharmacy, this is a lot of additional work that we are expected to do.”
Many stores are increasingly locking items to prevent shoplifting, forcing customers to seek help from employees. Workers say it will make the labor shortage problem even worse.
“There are so many customers who don't get support and have to constantly wait for it to be unlocked,” Acosta said.
“They think we just don't want to help them. In reality, the company doesn't provide us with enough people to provide good customer service.”
Employees are also asking for improved store security, among other demands.
Last week, CVS announced that Karen Lynch would step down as CEO and that longtime company executive David Joyner would take on the role.
CVS made the change in response to pressure from Glenview Capital, an activist investor that has been agitating the company to take action in the face of lagging stocks.
News of the change caused the company's stock price to fall by more than 5%.
CVS stock is down nearly half from its 2022 high, in part due to lower earnings estimates each quarter related to rising costs in its large health insurance business and competition for its vast network of retail pharmacies. That's what I've been taught.
CVS recently announced it would cut nearly 3,000 jobs across the United States.
with post wire
