LOS ANGELES — Workers at seven CVS pharmacies in Southern California have gone on strike to demand better pay and health care and to protest what they say is the company’s bad faith contract negotiations.
The strike began Friday morning, affected four stores in Los Angeles and three in Orange County, and continued through the weekend. On Saturday, strikers outside a store in Los Angeles asked customers not to cross the picket line.
Melissa Acosta, a pharmacy technician who serves on the contract negotiation committee, accused the company of “intimidating workers, observing them and preventing them from speaking with union representatives.”
The affected CVS locations remain open and staffed by managers and non-union employees.
Workers planned to continue picketing until negotiations resumed on Wednesday. The strike was approved by the two local Food and Commercial Workers unions involved in a vote on September 29th, with over 90% approval.
“We are disappointed that our fellow UFCW members went on strike at several select locations in the Los Angeles area,” company spokeswoman Amy Thibault said in a statement.
Thibault said CVS has made progress toward a final contract and has reached a “tentative agreement” on salary increases and health insurance premium increases.
Acosta said he was unable to pay the premiums offered by CVS and instead enrolled in the state-run program Covered California.
“In the nine years I’ve worked at CVS, I’ve never been able to afford a CVS health insurance plan,” she said.
Major pharmacy chains across the country are struggling with costs and online competition. Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health, which owns the chain, recently resigned after the company’s stock price fell 19%. CVS is nearing the end of its three-year plan to close 900 stores.
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. “This is a lot of additional work that we are expected to do in addition to filling medications at the pharmacy.”
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.
