(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Pharmacists and their union supporters rallied outside of Walgreens’ headquarters in Deerfield Friday morning to call for raises and job protections.
Organized labor stood with pharmacists outside the retail giant’s offices, some wearing white lab coats and standing next to giant inflatable fat cats.
The National Pharmacists Association says the 900 Walgreens pharmacists in the Chicago area have been working without a contract for almost a year while the company is exploring using tele-medicine and remote pharmacists.
President of the group Joe Pignataro says in the last seven years, he’s gotten only one raise and it was two percent.
But he says patient care remains his top priority.
“We are the first line triage for patients who are under insured, uninsured or just want to know 'what can I do because I have a problem at hand.'”
Chicago Federation of Labor Chaplain Father Clete Kiley says during the darkest days of the pandemic, the public trusted pharmacists the most.
Walgreens says it has taken steps to improve pharmacists’ experience over the last two years and is fully committed to ensuring their contributions are rewarded with competitive pay and benefits as they bargain to reach a new contract.
Walgreens issued the following statement:
We deeply appreciate the work of our pharmacists, who are striving every day to achieve our shared vision of serving our communities and reimagining healthcare. Our leaders are in our pharmacies regularly, listening to concerns and responding to feedback. We have taken steps over the last two years to improve pharmacists’ experience, advance the profession and enable them to provide the high value care they were trained to do. We are fully committed to ensuring their contributions are acknowledged and rewarded, including with competitive pay and benefits, and are continuing to bargain in good faith with our Chicago area pharmacists in an effort to reach a new contract.
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