Get your drugs ASAP

[southsider2k5]

Walgreen Co. pharmacists said Tuesday that they would strike 400 stores in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana at 10 p.m. Wednesday, while the company pledged it would continue to fill prescriptions but with reduced pharmacy hours.

 

The National Pharmacists Association, which represents 1,200 Walgreen pharmacists in the area, said the company is trying to dismantle contract provisions that prevent members from being overworked and protect the public.

 

"This is not about pay," said Charles Sauer, executive director of the association. "This is about working conditions and staffing policies that could ultimately compromise patient safety."

 

Sauer said picketing could begin at some locations Wednesday evening.

 

Working conditions should not be an issue, a company spokesman said.

 

"We have the best work environment in the industry," said Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin.

 

Polzin said prescriptions would be filled by supervising pharmacists and other pharmacist-executives with Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain. Pharmacist technicians are not represented by the union and will remain on the job, he said.

 

"We are a company of pharmacists," said Polzin, whose boss, Chairman and Chief Executive David Bernauer, is a pharmacist.

 

Polzin declined to say whether Deerfield-based Walgreens will bring in non-union pharmacists from its nearly 4,000 stores elsewhere in the country. The company brought in pharmacists and technicians from other states to staff stores during a brief strike 15 years ago.

 

Only seven of approximately 100 pharmacies that are open 24 hours would remain open around the clock, the company said, and hours will be shortened at other stores. But the minimum Walgreens pharmacies will be open is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Store hours will not be affected by the walkout.

 

The union said it will strike Walgreens pharmacies in Boone, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Winnebago Counties in Illinois as well as parts of Kendall, Will and Stephenson Counties in Illinois and parts of Lake County in Indiana.

 

The strike announcement came as something of a surprise. The union and the company were scheduled to meet Thursday. As of Tuesday night, no talks were scheduled for Wednesday.

 

Walgreens said it is offering a four-year contract with 4 percent raises each year, which would leave pharmacists on a 40-hour workweek earning more than $100,000 a year. The old contract expired June 12.

 

But a major issue for the union is the number of prescriptions a pharmacist can handle in a shift. The union said its members can safely fill no more than 150 prescriptions per day.

 

This allows time to read the doctor's script, check patient history and the possibility of drug interactions, fill the prescription, counsel patients and answer questions, the union contends. In many cases, the pharmacist must call the doctor as well, the union said.

 

"Right now at many Walgreens stores, pharmacists fill 300 to 400 prescriptions each day," said Thomas Hanson, president of the association.

 

Polzin disputed that any pharmacist fills that many prescriptions in a day.

 

"While a pharmacy may fill 300 to 400 prescriptions in a day, a pharmacist is not responsible for that number," he said. "Our average pharmacy fills about 280 prescriptions per day."

 

Since pharmacies are regulated on a state-by-state basis by state pharmacy boards, there is no clear set of standards as to how many prescriptions a pharmacist can fill safely in a day.

 

Still, several national studies by a variety of groups show that medical errors, including those involving pharmacists at the pharmacy counter, are rising.

 

While Walgreens acknowledges its pharmacists make errors, its error rate has not risen despite an explosion in prescriptions filled in recent years, the company said Tuesday.

 

Walgreens wouldn't disclose its internal error rate but said that errors "do not correspond to the changes in volume."

 

On average, three pharmacists are on staff at each Walgreens. Stores open 24 hours could have more at any given time, the company said.

 

Walgreens said its new offer includes a streamlined way to assess staffing levels. The union contends that the new staffing system eliminates a provision that allowed for staffing level input from pharmacists, a provision the union claims assured customer safety.

 

The American Pharmacists Association has never set a standard for the number of prescriptions a pharmacist can safely fill in eight hours, said spokeswoman Susan Winckler, though it has studied the issue.

 

Winckler said such factors as the number of assistants and the types of prescriptions make it too difficult to set a standard.

 

"It fits better on the professional judgment of the pharmacist," she said.

 

For Walgreens regulars, the idea of a walkout introduced uncertainty into the mundane task of filling a prescription.

 

Stephanie Ross, a registered nurse, was visiting a Walgreens on Milwaukee Avenue in the Wicker Park section of Chicago Tuesday night.

 

"I would hope that it wouldn't affect customers' prescriptions," Ross said.

 

Although the Walgreens is convenient to her home, she has options, Ross said.

 

"If a strike continued for a while, I would consider going somewhere else," she said.

 

Lily Alvare travels from Chicago's West Side to the same Walgreens several times a month to pick up medicine for her elderly grandmother.

 

Alvare said she understands that labor disputes arise.

 

"If they have to strike for better benefits or working conditions, then they should," Alvare said as she left a store with several bottles of medicine. "My grandmother needs her prescriptions, though, so we'll be going somewhere else."

 

Pharmacists last struck Walgreens in 1990. The strike lasted a week and, like this dispute, centered on their work load.

 

At the time, pharmacists complained that patients would wait as long as an hour to get a prescription filled at some Walgreens on the city's South and West Sides. Some said they were filling 500 prescriptions a day.

 

The National Pharmacists Association has represented Walgreens pharmacists for 37 years. Despite its name, it represents pharmacists only in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

 

"The vast majority of our pharmacists are not unionized," said Walgreens spokeswoman Laurie Meyer.

 

Each pharmacist represents significant profit for Walgreens. Last year, the company posted gross revenue of $37.5 billion, and 65 percent of that came from pharmacy sales.

 

Staff reporter Brendan McCarthy contributed to this report.

 

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rmanor@tribune.com; bmccarthy@tribune.com; bjapsen@tribune.com

 

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What it means for you

 

THE ISSUE: Pharmacists at Walgreens contend the company imperils public safety by wanting them to fill too many prescriptions per day.

 

THE STORES: A strike would affect all Walgreens pharmacies in Boone, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Winnebago Counties and parts of Kendall, Will and Stephenson Counties.

 

THE IMPACT: Stores and pharmacies would remain open, but pharmacy hours would be cut as managers and technicians would pick up the slack.

 

Walgreens stores that will be open 24 hours if a strike occurs

 

(area map)

 

100 N. Randall Rd.,

 

Lake in the Hills

 

780 Waukegan Rd., Deerfield

 

5600 W. Fullerton Ave.,

 

Chicago

 

1554 E. 55th St., Chicago

 

11 E. 75th St., Chicago

 

498 N. Weber Rd.,

 

Romeoville

 

522 Torrence Ave.,

 

Calumet City

[BobDylan]

Oh...those drugs.

[Texsox]

No Walgreens in Mexico, my pharmacy of choice and almost everything is "over the counter".

Antibiotics, get your antibiotics here

Cialis, get your cialis here

Blood Pressure pills, get them here

[JUGGERNAUT]

I am confused. A 40-hr wk pharmacist makes over $100K/yr yet during the strike managers & technicians will pick up the slack? Are all managers at Walgreens qualified to fill prescriptions?

 

The hardest part of the job is reading the doctor's handwriting. That's worth $100K/yr? And they are striking?

[Kid Gleason]

I am confused.  A 40-hr wk pharmacist makes over $100K/yr yet during the strike managers & technicians will pick up the slack?  Are all managers at Walgreens qualified to fill prescriptions?

 

The hardest part of the job is reading the doctor's handwriting.  That's worth $100K/yr?  And they are striking?

 

Not so sure about that being the hardest part of the job. The hardest part is making sure drugs don't get mixed up, that they know their patients, and that they know the interactions. I trust my pharmacist a bit more than my doctor on the medication aspects. Granted, he is my father-in law, but he has also given me better advice than the doctors ever could when it comes to the drugs I am taking. I have no problems whatsoever with what they make, or could make a year. Quite a bit of schooling and knowledge goes into being a pharmacist.

[Queen Prawn]

I am confused.  A 40-hr wk pharmacist makes over $100K/yr yet during the strike managers & technicians will pick up the slack?  Are all managers at Walgreens qualified to fill prescriptions?

 

The hardest part of the job is reading the doctor's handwriting.  That's worth $100K/yr?  And they are striking?

 

From what I have heard about this, it isn't about pay it is about staffing. Working in a company that is severly understaffed, it sucks.

[Soxy]

Not so sure about that being the hardest part of the job. The hardest part is making sure drugs don't get mixed up, that they know their patients, and that they know the interactions. I trust my pharmacist a bit more than my doctor on the medication aspects. Granted, he is my father-in law, but he has also given me better advice than the doctors ever could when it comes to the drugs I am taking. I have no problems whatsoever with what they make, or could make a year. Quite a bit of schooling and knowledge goes into being a pharmacist.

It's true. My dad used to take my sister and I to see the pharmacist at Osco first to determine if we needed to see a real doctor or if something else would make us better.

[Rex Kickass]

I worked in a Revco. Pharmacists were expected to work 60 hour weeks. Usually with no breaks at all during the day (and they weren't supposed to have food in the pharmacy area which they weren't supposed to leave.)

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

From what I have heard about this, it isn't about pay it is about staffing.  Working in a company that is severly understaffed, it sucks.

 

 

For a hundred grand a year I think they can suck it up. This is bulls***.

[jackie hayes]

Now our only hope is this homemade Prozac...

[Rex Kickass]

For a hundred grand a year I think they can suck it up.  This is bulls***.

 

Try 65-70 Grand a year to be more realistic. And try paying back huge student loan bills every month that amount to bills larger than most mortgages in Indiana. Where I live, and with my modest means - I need almost 40K a year to break even at the end of the day. And I don't have student loan payments to deal with.

 

If they think conditions are unbearable, or inappropriate, or god forbid, put the people they serve at risk (by perhaps not being conscious enough to realize they're giving one drug instead of another) - then they have every right to organize and try to make their conditions better.

 

If it works, more power to them.

[mmmmmbeeer]

Try 65-70 Grand a year to be more realistic. And try paying back huge student loan bills every month that amount to bills larger than most mortgages in Indiana. Where I live, and with my modest means - I need almost 40K a year to break even at the end of the day. And I don't have student loan payments to deal with.

 

If they think conditions are unbearable, or inappropriate, or god forbid, put the people they serve at risk (by perhaps not being conscious enough to realize they're giving one drug instead of another) - then they have every right to organize and try to make their conditions better.

 

If it works, more power to them.

 

Not to mention the fact that when they do screw up, claiming that the store was understaffed will not save their license. When your employer's negligence puts your livelihood at risk, you should be completely justified in stopping work until that negligence has been addressed.

[JUGGERNAUT]

How many other professionals in other professions are expected to work greater than 40 hr weeks for 70K/yr? This is nothing new. In America working overtime has always been considered the norm & not the exception.

 

If they really are unhappy with the number of hours they work then they should negotiate for hourly pay instead of salary pay & let Walgreens go out & hire more pharmacists to work smaller shifts. Of course in doing so since these workers would be classified as part-time Walgreens shouldn't have to provide benefits. These hourly paid workers can shop for their own benefit package.