| When you hear about employee walkouts, usually issues like compensation, health care and retirement benefits come to mind. But for CVS and Walgreens pharmacy workers who have been protesting recently, that's not quite the case. Instead, in this case, the issue is staffing.
Pharmacists say that their working conditions at the drugstore chains have reached a tipping point, with an impossible backlog of prescriptions due to insufficient staff. Meanwhile, pharmacists say the pressure to meet corporate performance metrics like phone wait times, for example, are leading to mistakes and causing patients harm. At very busy stores, just one pharmacist can be responsible for more than a thousand prescriptions daily, CVS and Walgreens pharmacists told me. That number can often include a backlog of hundreds of prescriptions from the days before, as well as new prescriptions that come in throughout the day. On top of handling prescriptions, a single pharmacist must also have patient consultations, where they speak to patients about their new medications. Pharmacists are also responsible for all the vaccination appointments on the day. They are often on the frontlines, bearing the brunt of patients' anger and frustration over things beyond their control like complex insurance plans and persistent drug shortages.
The motive for these walkouts, though, isn't the only thing unusual about them. Most pharmacists at the chains aren't unionized. Walkouts and rallies by CVS and Walgreens pharmacy staff were not common until recently. It all changed late September when CVS pharmacists in Kansas City, Missouri, staged walkouts in their stores to protest against working conditions. The actions closed about 10 pharmacies in the Kansas City area, including some in Target retail stores. Since then, other pharmacists at drugstore chains have taken similar action, driven by grassroots efforts and organized using social media. Around 2,000 staff from CVS and Walgreens expressed interest through a Facebook poll in taking part in the latest round of walkouts last week, dubbed Pharmageddon.
CVS and Walgreens told me at the time that the disruption from Pharmageddon was minimal, but the companies are committed to listening and engaging in dialogue with pharmacists and addressing their concerns.
Patient safety is a the forefront of the walkouts, pharmacists told me. Cathy Senter, a retired nurse from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina described her local CVS as having shelves jam-packed with prescriptions, phones constantly ringing, and stressed pharmacy workers. The pharmacy is so backlogged and understaffed, she said, that her husband Robert hasn't been able to get his monthly refill of critical seizure medication on time.
"When he can't get his medicine and he's on the verge of feeling like he's going to have a seizure, it's scary for both of us," Senter said.
While the latest walkouts may have come to an end, there are already talks of more action in the coming months if things don't change. — Fiona Rutherford | 
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