Who owns CVS? Pharmacy employees in Missouri stage walkouts citing ‘brutal work environment’
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: CVS Pharmacy, originally owned by Melville Corporation and now a subsidiary of parent company CVS Health, has come under scrutiny for its "poor working conditions and sub-par regional leadership."
CVS Pharmacy workers in Missouri have kicked off a string of protests that ended in the unanticipated closure of several CVS outlets in Kansas City, prompted by the ongoing walkouts.
Protests escalate as multiple CVS stores are forced to close
The first wave of walkouts began with the closure of 12 Kansas City CVS stores on Thursday and Friday, Sept 21 and 22. Even the Columbia CVS branch on 2400 Bernadette Dr. temporarily shuttered its doors as part of the protest.
In response to the walkouts, pharmacists from other locations were redeployed to cover the staffing gaps, exacerbating the staffing challenges faced by the pharmacy chain.
“This walkout was in protest of a brutal work environment that CVS has created which fosters extreme stress, anxiety, and even tears,” one worker wrote.
The primary grievances raised by employees revolve around CVS's scheduling practices, which have placed immense pressure on workers.
Allegedly, the number of hours for a pharmacist to have a technician's assistance has been reduced, often resulting in a single employee running an entire pharmacy.
“I was there all by myself. We were 82 pages behind. Each page represents 15 scripts,” said an employee who was forced to cover one of Columbia’s Schnucks locations.
“I was there all by myself for three straight days.” These issues, according to another employee, have persisted for several years, as per ABC.
“You would never see a doctor's office operate like this. It’s not safe to be open,” added another employee.
“Verifying prescriptions is hard enough, but when it is just one person holding down the fort there are added expectations. We also have to answer phones, run the drive thru and give vaccines.”
Target-based pharmacies struggle amid staffing shortages
Pharmacies inside Target stores have reportedly been severely affected by these staffing shortages.
In some instances, pharmacy staff have had to manage the entire operation with minimal support, often relying on students seeking part-time employment to help.
The walkouts and staffing problems have also had consequences for CVS's ability to provide vaccines and flu shots.
“At this point, some pharmacies are refusing to do them cause it’s just not possible,” one of the employees claimed.
“Their [CVS executives] decision was if you’re over 100 prescriptions behind they are going to clear out all your vaccinations for the day and have no more appointments.”
"But what they did was take them out of those stores and throw them on top of another store," an employee stated.
"Without scheduling additional help they threw all the vaccinations down the street to the other one that wasn’t so far behind. So there were stores that were open today with over 125 vaccinations to do today with one pharmacist on top of their regular workload. In one hour there were 16 vaccinations scheduled for one pharmacist on top of what they were doing.”
These walkouts are expected to continue across the country, with employees in various locations, including Kansas City, Columbia, Jefferson City, Burbank, California, and multiple stores in Oklahoma, participating in the protests.
