CVS workers are on strike at 7 California locations to demand better wages, health care

Workers at seven CVS pharmacies in Southern California are now on strike, demanding better wages and health care and calling out what they describe as the company engaging in unfair contract negotiations.

The strike began on Friday and continued through the weekend, affecting four stores in Los Angeles and three in Orange County. Strike workers outside the Los Angeles area told customers Saturday not to cross picket lines, according to The Associated Press.

Melissa Acosta, a chemist on the contract negotiation committee, said the company was “intimidating workers, watching them, preventing them from talking to union representatives,” the agency reported.

Despite the strike, the affected CVS locations remain open and staffed by managers and non-employees.

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The workers plan to continue to picket until contract negotiations with the company resume on Wednesday.

The strike was approved when more than 90% of the two United Food and Commercial Workers unions involved voted in favor on September 29, according to The Associated Press.

“We are disappointed that our UFCW colleagues have gone on strike at several select locations in the Los Angeles area,” CVS spokeswoman Amy Thibault said in a statement.

Thibault said the company has moved toward a final contract and has reached interim agreements to raise wages and increase company health insurance contributions.

Acosta said she can’t afford the cost of the insurance that CVS offers, so she’s enrolled in the state-run Covered California program.

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“In nine years of working with CVS, I have never been able to afford their health care plan,” he said.

Pharmacy chains across the country have struggled with the cost and competition of the internet.

CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch of CVS Health recently resigned, as shares fell 19%. CVS is nearing the end of a three-year plan to close 900 stores.

The company’s technicians, who must complete an extensive training program and meet licensing requirements, currently make $24.90 an hour after five years on the job, the union said.

Carlos Alfaro, one of the workers on strike, said stores are understaffed when flu season starts, according to The Associated Press.

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“We have to call [patients] always getting flu shots, push shots, “Alfaro said. “This is a lot of additional work that we are expected to do, on top of filling the medicine in the pharmacy.”

Many stores have been locking up merchandise to prevent shoplifting, forcing customers to ask employees to unlock items such as soap and laundry detergent.

“There are a lot of customers 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.”

Employees also make other demands, including a request for better store safety.