CVS employees across 7 California pharmacies, want better wages, health care

Workers at seven CVS pharmacies in Southern California went on strike to demand better wages and health care last week — the latest sign of unrest at a company whose CEO recently resigned during store closings and bankruptcies.

Workers at four stores in Los Angeles and three others in Orange County walked off the job Friday — though the locations remained open as managers and pharmacy staff were out of work.

Striking workers outside a Los Angeles location told customers not to cross the picket line.

The crew plans to continue the dive until negotiations resume on Wednesday. But a company spokesman told The Post on Monday that workers at all seven locations had returned to work and that a tentative agreement had been reached on a new contract.

The strike was authorized by a vote of the two United Food and Commercial Workers local unions involved on September 29, with more than 90% in favor.

“We’ve had more than a dozen good-faith negotiations with the UFCW over the past several months, including six since the contract expired in June,” CVS spokeswoman Amy Thibault told The Post .

“During these negotiations, we have continued to finalize the contract and have reached interim agreements that will increase the rate of pay for store associates, with additional increases for associates with 5+ years of service with colleagues and 10+ years of service.”

CVS has also “committed to increasing the amount that CVS Health contributes to the cost of health insurance for those enrolled in company-sponsored health insurance.”

“There is a lot to be done,​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ and​​​​​​​​

Melissa Acosta, a chemist on the negotiating committee, last week accused CVS of “intimidating workers, watching them, preventing them from talking to union representatives.”

Acosta told the AP that the cost of the insurance CVS offered was too high, so she enrolled in the state-run Covered California program.

“In the nine years I’ve worked with CVS, I’ve never been able to afford their health care plan,” he said.

CVS is one of three major drug chains sued by the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly steering diabetes patients to higher-priced insulin in order to reap millions of dollars in rebates from the companies. of medicine.

CVS pharmacy technicians, who are required to complete an extensive training program and meet licensing requirements, currently make $24.90 an hour after five years on the job, according to the union.

Carlos Alfaro, a professional who joined the strike, said that shops are understaffed when the flu season starts.

“We have to call (patients) regularly to get flu shots, booster shots,” Alfaro said. “This is a lot of work we’re expected to do, on top of filling the pharmacy.”

Many stores are locking up many items as a deterrent to shoplifting, forcing customers to seek help from staff. Workers say this is exacerbating the unemployment problem.

“There are too many consumers who don’t get help and have to keep waiting to open something,” Acosta said.

“They think we don’t want to help them, when in fact the company doesn’t give us enough staff to be able to provide good customer service.”

The workers are also asking for better shop security, among other demands.

Last week, CVS announced that Karen Lynch would step down as CEO and that David Joyner, the company’s longtime executive, would be filling that role.

CVS made the change due to pressure from Glenview Capital, a rival investor that has been pushing for the company to take action on its remaining stock.

News of the change sent the company’s shares down by more than 5%.

CVS stock has nearly halved from its 2022 high, in part because of quarter after quarter of recurring profit cuts related to rising costs in its core business. of health insurance and competition for its large network of retail pharmacies.

CVS also announced recently that it will cut about 3,000 jobs nationwide.

With Post cables