Pharmacy employees at CVS and Walgreens went on strike again on Tuesday after organizers initiated a three-day strike this week.
The walkouts began on Monday at various Walgreens and CVS locations across the country. Since the pharmacy employees at both stores are not unionized, it is difficult to organize and quantify a nationwide walkout. Some organizers claim that over 20 stores have closed due to the walkouts. The strike is expected to last until Wednesday.
The pharmacy workers are staging the walkout to bring attention to what they perceive as dangerous and unacceptable working conditions.
According to some testimonials, Walgreens workers have been complaining about severe understaffing, refusals to grant sick leave, and unreasonably long shifts for the past year. CVS employees are demanding that the company hire more workers.
Solidarity between workers at the nation’s two largest pharmacy chains has been relatively strong. Organizers have staged walkouts in several other states this year to protest the same working conditions that the current walkouts are trying to highlight.
The pharmacies have reported that the walkouts have had a negligible impact on daily operations, but they are listening to the demands of their workers and are directly addressing their concerns with their pharmacists.