As flu season develops, members of The Pharmacy Guild/IAM working at CVS Pharmacies in Rhode Island protested on October 23 outside the Wakefield CVS over unsafe working conditions. The action comes as CVS has repeatedly ignored frontline pharmacy professionals and refused to bargain in good faith over a first union contract.
Here’s the video:
“We’re here because we’re sick of CVS executives putting profits over people,” said Chris Eggeman, a Pharmacist at the Wakefield CVS. “We’re sick of our professional concerns being ignored while pharmacy professionals are expected to keep up with overwhelming workloads and too few resources. We’re sick of CVS executives trying to bust the union by failing to bargain in good faith and illegally withholding raises we’re entitled to.
“We have a message for CEO David Joyner and other CVS
executives: bargain in good faith, and promptly settle a first contract that
gives pharmacy professionals the resources we need.”
“I am a member of the bargaining committee. We’re here
because we’re sick of CVS executives putting profits over people,” said Chris
Desrochers, Pharmacy technician at the Wakefield CVS and a member of the Pharmacy
Guild. “We’re sick of our professional concerns being ignored while
pharmacy professionals are expected to keep up with overwhelming workloads with
too few resources. Pharmacy professionals take our responsibilities seriously
and work hard to support our patients and our pharmacies. But staffing is
stretched, and workloads keep growing. Pharmacy professionals need the time,
staffing, and resources to do their jobs well and meet the high standards they
set for themselves.
“That’s why we’ve been speaking up about working conditions.
CVS executives need to listen to the people who do this work every day and
address our concerns.
“I’m part of a group of pharmacy professionals from all over Rhode Island who have been negotiating our first contract since 2024. Instead of working with us to resolve issues of safe staffing and adequate compensation, CVS negotiators have stalled. CVS has outright refused to bargain with several units of pharmacists because they say staff pharmacists - who can’t decide when to close the drive-thru at their store - are supervisors.
“We’re calling on CVS to negotiate in good faith for a
contract that includes safe staffing and workload standards, fair and
transparent compensation, respect for our right to organize, and protections
that help us care for our patients.
“At CVS locations across the country, members of the
Pharmacy Guild and IAM are united. This summer, we voted overwhelmingly to
sanction a strike. The vote sent a clear message. We are prepared to keep
fighting for the conditions our patients and our profession deserve.
“To David Joyner and the CVS executives, we say: listen to
the pharmacy professionals who perform the day-to-day work at your pharmacies.
Put safety before corporate profits, bargain in good faith, and settle a fair
contract, now. We’re ready to stand together until CVS does what’s right for
pharmacy professionals and the patients who depend on us.”
Joined by labor and community allies, dozens of pharmacy
professionals called out the impact of widespread understaffing and
overwhelming workloads. Under immense time pressures set by grueling schedules,
pharmacists are sometimes expected to spend less than one minute reviewing each
prescription that comes through their system, according to members of The
Pharmacy Guild/IAM – all while administering vaccinations, counseling patients,
and handling customer service.
Pharmacy professionals will demand that the corporate giant
negotiate and sign a first contract guaranteeing safe staffing and workload
standards, fair and transparent compensation, and safety protections.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across the country are
organizing to secure safe staffing measures, reasonable workloads, and a
professional voice in decisions affecting their work and patient care. Members
of The Pharmacy Guild/IAM say immense workloads and corporate performance
metrics can leave pharmacists with little time to review prescriptions, counsel
patients, and handle other responsibilities. They believe these conditions may
put their licenses and patient care at risk.
In August, 90.3% of participating Rhode Island members voted
to sanction a strike. Within the 600,000-strong IAM Union, strike sanction is a
defined step in the process leading up to strike authorization and potential
strike action. Although it does not trigger an immediate withholding of labor,
a strike sanction vote secures additional support and resources from the
International Union if a strike occurs.
The Pharmacy Guild/IAM has also filed Unfair Labor
Practice charges alleging anti-union conduct at CVS facilities represented
by the union, including allegations of bad-faith bargaining and failure to
provide raises to eligible pharmacy professionals.
“Sisters and brothers, you are doing a brave and
difficult thing. Rhode Island has a long, storied history of workers just like
you standing up and fighting corporate greed,” said Phil Eden from NEARI. “Not
even 100 years ago, workers in Woonsocket and Central Falls struck for a
40-hour workweek. They got shot at by the National Guard. They fought and
finally won overtime pay after 40 hours so people could have time after a long
day’s work to spend with their families.
“A hundred years later, with corporations taking more and
more power from working people, who only works 40 hours a week anymore? We all
have to work more than that to pay our bills because corporations like CVS
profit at our expense. They overwork us, they underpay us, and they profit.
“What you’re doing is hard. What you’re doing is brave. But
stick with it. We have a long history in this state of workers standing
together and fighting for what you deserve. You’re joining 80,000 members
across the state of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. Your union sisters and brothers
will be with you in this fight till the end. We call on CVS to stop union
busting and sit down to negotiate in good faith with the people who serve
patients every day. I’m a patient at this pharmacy. You guys help me when I need
you. You help my daughter when she needs care. This community appreciates you,
we respect you, and we’re going to stand with you until you win your fight.”
“I’m not a pharmacist or a technician. I’m not on
your bargaining committee, but I’m here for one reason: to stand in solidarity
with you,” said Jeff Santini, District 26 of the IAM Union. “For
too long, you’ve been fighting for a strong contract. You’ve continued to
serve, uphold your profession, and stand together as union members while
waiting for the agreement you deserve. And let me tell you something: from
experience in the labor movement, companies expect workers to get tired; they
expect workers to become divided; they expect workers to give up, but you
haven’t.
“You stayed united, you stayed committed, and you show what
solidarity looks like. On behalf of the members of IM District 26, I want you
to know that we see your fight, we respect your fight, we support your fight.
“When workers stand together, workers have power. The fight
is about dignity, respect, and securing a strong first contract that reflects
the value you deserve and bring to your community every day. So keep up the
fight, keep supporting your bargaining committee, and keep standing together,
because solidarity is your greatest strength, and that strength will carry you
across the finish line. From all of us at IAMP District 26, stay strong, stay
united, stay determined. We’re proud to stand with you today, and we’ll be
proud to celebrate with you when you win the contract you’ve earned.”
“We’re all sick of corporate greed in America today,”
said State Representative Kathleen Fogarty (Democrat, District 35, South
Kingstown). “The Pharmacy Guild and the IAM are a union of pharmacy
professionals who provide care for Rhode Island and communities nationwide. We
dispense and counsel patients on safe medication use, review therapies to
ensure patients receive the most effective care possible, and administer
vaccines to keep our communities protected. Pharmacy professionals are among
the most accessible healthcare professionals and are often the first place
people turn when they are sick.
“Pharmacy professionals began organizing with the Pharmacy
Guild IAM in December 2024 because of an increased focus on metrics to measure
the performance of pharmacy professionals and their patients, while asking
workers to do more without compensation.
“The Pharmacy Guild IAM represents pharmacists and
technicians at four CVS stores across six bargaining units in Rhode Island, as
well as hundreds of pharmacy professionals in dozens of states across the
country. Pharmacy professionals at three CVS bargaining units have been
bargaining since December of 2024, and CVS has not agreed to the first
contract. Next month will be two years, and still no contract. Not good faith,
but bad faith. These are the people that we see every day here. And I said,
this gentleman right here just signed me in the other day to get my flu and my
COVID vaccination.”
“We’re standing in District 34 today,” said State
Representative Teresa Tanzi (Democrat, District 34, North Kingstown).
“I have been fighting CVS since I began 16 years ago up at the State House.
They have received tax cuts at the expense of every Rhode Islander. It’s time
for CVS to wake up and realize that their corporate policies are hurting Rhode
Islanders. CVS will not even talk to three units of pharmacists in violation of
an NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) order and against its
own public commitment that, if the NLRB upheld the bargaining unit, it would
bargain in good faith.
“That is not a Rhode Island value. They need to keep their
word. During the bargaining campaign, the Pharmacy Guild has filed dozens of
unfair labor practice charges against CVS across the country, including about
20 here in Rhode Island alone.
“The Pharmacy Guild-represented pharmacy professionals have
taken action before. In fact, all bargaining units in Rhode Island authorized
strike sanction in August of 2026. Which is why CVS workers are here today.
They won a bargain, they won a talk, they won a fair contract.
“In Rhode Island, we love our hometown teams. We will go to
the mat for our own, but not if they play dirty. Not if they don’t keep their
word, and not if they fail to treat their workers with the respect that they
deserve.”
A quick interview with the organizers:
Chris Eggeman: We’re having a demonstration because
CVS is union busting and not bargaining in good faith.
And we’re here to try to settle a first contract. As I said,
they’ve been union busting. They’ve been negotiating in bad faith. They’ve
illegally withheld raises from our workers. We’ve gone almost three years now
with no raise, and it’s unacceptable. So we’re here fighting for our rights and
our patients.
Chris Desrochers: We started demonstrating in 2024,
and we’re still at it because, as Chris said, CBS won’t finish the contract
with us. And they won’t even bargain with the pharmacists right now.
Chris Eggeman: It means they’re afraid of the power
we have when we’re united. You know, it’s really not a good look to promise us
that they will bargain in good faith if the NLRB certified the election. And,
you know, now they’ve got a lawful order from the NLRB to sit down and bargain
with pharmacists, and they’re refusing to do so. So, you know, we’re putting it
on them to do the right thing and keep to their word. This means the world to
us.
Chris Desrochers: It means the world, absolutely.
It’s amazing to see all the support behind us right now. From all the local
unions and our union brethren at AIM, we can’t thank everyone enough for coming
out and supporting us. And the patients. And the patients.
Chris Eggeman: We’re going to keep doing this. I
mean, this is, we’re committed, we’re united. We’re hoping that CVS does the
right thing. You know, we authorized a strike sanction. We don’t want to have
to do it. We’re really just counting on CVS to uphold their word and do the
right thing.
The Wakefield rally follows an October 19 action by CVS Specialty pharmacy professionals in Redlands, California. Together, the events form a coast-to-coast National Pharmacy Week of Action calling on CVS executives to live up to the patient-care standards the company publicly promotes.
