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Walgreens, the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States, is closing out hundreds of its store branches in the country. While it previously announced its plans to shut down 150 locations, a sudden closure of stores next week was predicted.
The impending closure of 150 stores comes after employees in the U.S. aired various complaints related to working conditions in the company. They are voicing their grievances in the hopes of pushing for change.
Walkout Plans of Walgreens Employees
According to The Sun US, many of the company staff, including technicians, pharmacists, and support staff, are planning a walkout that may take place between Oct. 9 and Oct. 11. Organizers of the event mentioned that although the walkout may only happen on one day, many employees may not report to work for three days and this may result to pharmacies being close for a while.
Another unnamed staff also shared that more than 500 Walgreens drugstores across the country have expressed interest in joining the walkout. Then again, this number is just a small part of the pharmacy chain's 9,000 outlets in the U.S.
"We don't believe that Walgreens is allowing us to give our patients safe care on a daily basis," the organizer stated. "Walgreens is not responding, they are not fixing those things."
A pharmacist also added, "It is time to try something different because every year we get the same promises and every year we get the same Band-Aid on the problem."
In any case, it was reported that a Walgreens branch in Auburn, Maine, is closing this weekend, and people noted that this was a sudden decision despite the declaration of store shutdown that will affect 150 branches.
The Workers Union's Support to Employees
Business Insider reported that the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents the majority of Walgreens staff, did not immediately respond when contacted for a comment. However, a statement to the publication said that it heard and was aware of the employees' concerns.
On the other hand, Walgreens said, "We are engaged and listening to the concerns raised by some of our team members. The company is making significant investments in pharmacist wages and hiring bonuses to attract/retain talent in harder-to-staff locations."
Photo by: Stephanie Rhee/Unsplash
