LOS ANGELES — Employees at seven CVS pharmacies in Southern California have gone on strike for better wages and health care and to protest what they say is bad-faith contract negotiations by the company.
The strike, which affected four stores in Los Angeles and three in Orange County, started Friday morning and lasted into the weekend. On Saturday, strikers at one of the LA stores urged customers not to cross picket lines.
Melissa Acosta, a pharmacy technician who serves on the contract negotiation committee, accused the company of “intimidate, surveil and interfere with employees in conversations with union representatives.”
The affected CVS locations have remained open and are staffed by managers and non-union employees.
The workers planned to continue picketing until negotiations resumed on Wednesday. The strike was approved by a vote of the two local United Food and Commercial Workers unions on September 29, with more than 90% in favor.
“We are disappointed that our fellow UFCW members have gone on strike at a few select locations in the Los Angeles area,” company spokesperson Amy Thibault said in a statement.
Thibault said CVS has made progress toward reaching a final contract and has reached “tentative agreements” to raise wages and increase the company’s health insurance contributions.
Acosta said she cannot afford the cost of the insurance CVS offers and is instead enrolled in the state-run Covered California program.
“In the nine years I have worked at CVS, I have never been able to afford their health care plan,” she said.
Major pharmacy chains across the country are struggling with costs and online competition. CEO Karen Lynch of CVS Health, which owns the chain, recently got off while shares fell 19%. CFS is almost the end of a three-year plan to close 900 stores.
CVS pharmacy technicians, who must complete an extensive training program and meet licensing requirements, currently earn $24.90 an hour after five years of employment, according to the union.
Carlos Alfaro, a technician who joined the strike, said stores are understaffed as flu season begins.
“We have to constantly call patients to get flu shots and push vaccines,” Alfaro said. “A lot of extra work is expected of us, in addition to filling medicines at the pharmacy.”
Many stores have more and more trapped objects as a measure against shoplifting, forcing customers to call for help from employees. Employees say this further exacerbates the understaffing problem.
“There are so many customers who don’t get help and are constantly waiting for something to be unlocked,” Acosta says. “They think we just don’t want to help them, when in reality the company doesn’t provide us with enough staff to provide excellent customer service.”
Employees are also asking for better store security, among other things.