CVS workers strike at 7 Southern California stores for better pay and
health care
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[October 21, 2024] By
JAIMIE DING
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Workers at seven CVS pharmacies in Southern
California have gone on strike for better pay and health care and to
protest what they say is bad-faith contract bargaining by the company.
The walkout, which affected four stores in Los Angeles and three in
Orange County, began Friday morning and continued into the weekend. On
Saturday outside one of the LA stores, strikers urged customers not to
cross the picket lines.
Melissa Acosta, a pharmacy technician who is on the contract bargaining
committee, accused the company of “intimidating workers, observing them,
getting in the way of them speaking to union representatives.”
The CVS locations affected have remained open, staffed by managers and
nonunion employees.
Workers planned to continue picketing until negotiations resume
Wednesday. The strike was authorized by a vote of the two local United
Food and Commercial Workers unions involved on Sept. 29, with more than
90% in favor.
“We're disappointed that our UFCW member colleagues have gone on strike
at a few select locations in the Los Angeles area,” company spokesperson
Amy Thibault said in a statement.
Thibault said CVS has made progress on getting to a final contract and
reached “tentative agreements” to raise pay and increase the company's
health insurance contributions.
Acosta said she cannot meet the cost of the insurance CVS offers and
instead is enrolled in the state-run program Covered California.
“In my nine years of working with CVS, I’ve never been able to afford
their health care plan,” she said.
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Workers on strike picket in front of a CVS pharmacy on Saturday,
Oct. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
Major pharmacy chains across the
country have been struggling with costs and online competition. CEO
Karen Lynch of CVS Health, which owns the chain, recently stepped
down as shares dropped 19%. CVS is nearing the end of a three-year
plan to close 900 stores.
CVS pharmacy technicians, who are required to complete an extensive
training program and satisfy licensing requirements, currently make
$24.90 an hour after five years on the job, according to the union.
Carlos Alfaro, a technician who joined the strike, said stores are
understaffed as the flu season begins.
“We have to call (patients) constantly to get flu shots, push
vaccines,” Alfaro said. “This is a lot of extra work we're expected
to do, on top of filling medications at the pharmacy.”
Many stores have increasingly locked up items as an anti-shoplifting
measure, forcing customers to get assistance from employees. Workers
say that further exacerbates the understaffing problem.
“There are so many customers that don’t get help and have to
constantly wait to get something unlocked,” said Acosta. “They think
we just don’t want to help them, when in reality the company doesn't
give us adequate staffing to be able to provide excellent customer
service.”
Workers are also asking for better store security, among other
demands.
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