Walgreens pharmacists walk out over working conditions. How it’s impacting Kansas City
Pharmacists and other employees at Walgreens locations around the country are walking off the job this week to draw attention to deteriorating working conditions, burnout and understaffing, CNN reported Monday.
It’s a movement some pharmacists and supporters are calling “Operation Spotlight,” and it has already led to store closures in Washington, Massachusetts and Oregon.
Some pharmacists have taken to social media to advertise the labor action, indicating on Facebook and Reddit that workers plan to be absent from work Oct. 9, 10 and 11.
To find out how the situation is playing out locally, The Star called 20 Walgreens locations within a 10-mile radius of downtown Kansas City.
None of the 20 pharmacies contacted were closed Monday — but that doesn’t mean none of them were impacted.
One Midtown location indicated that several employees were on strike, leaving the store short-staffed. And a Kansas location declined to comment on whether employees were not at work.
Six more Walgreens locations in the metro didn’t answer their phones after hold times of at least 10 minutes when The Star reached out Monday morning.
The remaining 12 pharmacies were open for business as usual, saying that none of their staff were out on strike.
When reached for comment, Walgreens corporate spokesperson Kris Lathan said that the company is listening to pharmacists’ concerns.
“We are committed to ensuring that our entire pharmacy team has the support and resources necessary to continue to provide the best care to our patients while taking care of their own wellbeing,” she said. “We are making significant investments in pharmacist wages and hiring bonuses to attract (and) retain talent.”
A post on the nationwide pharmacist support group page The Accidental Pharmacist indicated that employees will be using sick days and paid time off to call out of work without risking their jobs. This is a similar tactic to Kansas City’s recent CVS pharmacist walkout.
Around a dozen CVS pharmacies in the Kansas City area closed on Sept. 21, with some remaining closed the following day in a locally-coordinated labor action. The effort continued the following week, although two local pharmacists said the pharmacy chain brought in temporary workers to many locations to keep them from closing again.
Currently, there is no nationwide or regional union that represents all pharmacists, or all the employees of chain stores like CVS or Walgreens. That makes Operation Spotlight a coordinated labor action rather than an “official” union strike.
In a viral Reddit post announcing the movement two weeks ago, organizers called on employees to contact their state pharmacy boards about Walgreens’ working conditions.
The Missouri Pharmacy Board and the Kansas Board of Pharmacy did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
The Star’s David Hudnall contributed.
Are you a Walgreens employee willing to share your story? Is your Walgreens pharmacy closed or short-staffed today in Kansas City? Let the Service Journalism team know at kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published October 9, 2023 at 3:06 PM.
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