Support Unionizing Pharmacists

Being a pharmacist used to be a good job. But as corporations like CVS and Walgreens have cornered the market, squeezing more and more profit out of every step has left American pharmacists in a crisis that endangers patients and immiserates workers, all to enrich a few more stockholders. That’s why pharmacists are organizing under the Pharmacist’s Guild -- and why they have to win. We sat down with pharmacists, who told us how their jobs have changed and why they’re organizing for a union. Watch our exclusive report, then tell the CEOs of CVS and Walgreens that you support the unionizing pharmacy workers! In the relentless pursuit of profits, CVS has gobbled up insurance giant Aetna and Caremark, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager. This drives up the cost of drugs by allowing CVS to essentially negotiate prices with itself. And it makes workers more of an afterthought. That’s why pharmacists are fighting back. They’re tired of understaffing practices that can leave a single worker in charge of distributing vaccines, dispensing medicine, and interacting with customers. It isn’t just exhausting -- it’s dangerous. As pharmacist Amanda Poole told us: “You know what happens when you're so busy and your technician is overworked or you don't have a technician there and you've typed in the prescription? You've checked the prescription and you've looked at it and you think it said Lisinopril, which is a blood pressure medicine, and it said levothyroxine, which is a thyroid medicine.” These mistakes can be deadly. Pharmacists developed systems to minimize them -- but those systems are being abandoned as already-profitable corporations seek ever larger profits. The Pharmacists Guild is fighting to improve working conditions for pharmacists. But in doing so, they’ll protect patients and make going to the pharmacy suck a little less. Send a message to the CEOs of CVS and Walgreens: We support unionizing pharmacy workers!