Motivated by patient care concerns caused by years of chronic understaffing, CVS Omnicare pharmacists and pharmacy technicians file to join The Pharmacy Guild in groundbreaking industry-wide organizing campaign.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Pharmacy professionals at CVS Omnicare Las Vegas have filed to unionize with The Pharmacy Guild, becoming the first in the nation to join the burgeoning nationwide push to unionize and transform the high stakes industry. Pharmacy professionals at CVS Omnicare fill prescriptions for Nevada’s nursing homes, servicing elderly and vulnerable patients whose lives rely on their speed and accuracy.
“I’m proud every day to show up to the frontlines and care for my patients, who are high acuity seniors in nursing homes across Nevada,” said one CVS Omnicare pharmacy professional active in the drive. “Our pharmacy, like most corporate pharmacies, often lacks the safe staffing levels needed to deliver the standard of care our patients deserve. My patients count on me to keep them healthy and safe, and by unionizing I’ll gain a voice to do just that.”
Unsafe staffing levels have reached crisis levels for pharmacies across America, with severe shortages consistently reported by pharmacy professionals across the “Big Three” retail pharmacy chains, CVS, Walgreens, and RiteAid. The crisis precipitated an organic nationwide movement in 2022, when thousands of pharmacy professionals across multiple employers walked out in protest of the dangerous conditions in a “pharmageddon” that launched union drives across the country.
The unionization at CVS Omnicare underscores the growing momentum among pharmacy professionals to secure the safe staffing levels necessary to deliver excellence in patient care.
“In the past four years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions inside U.S. community pharmacies have worsened dramatically,” said Dr. Shane Jerominski, a longtime pharmacist, pharmacy reform activist, influencer, and co-founder of The Pharmacy Guild. “Pharmacy professionals across the country are suffering crisis level impacts from the unsustainability of the conditions they’ve been forced to work in, and patients are being endangered. Pharmacy professionals across the country are mobilizing for change, and we applaud the dedicated professionals at CVS Omnicare Las Vegas for demanding better for their patients.”
The formation of the union at CVS Omnicare Las Vegas reflects a broader trend across American industries, where peer-to-peer worker organizing has repeatedly defied expectations and workers have increasingly recognized the importance of collective action in addressing workplace safety issues and advocating for improved conditions. In a recent 2022 poll conducted by Gallup, the survey found that 71% of Americans approve of unions, the highest since 1965. The Pharmacy Guild is a project of IAM Healthcare and the first union in the country to focus exclusively on unionizing and representing pharmacy professionals in a specialized, wall-to-wall trade union.