Chicago DUers, especially union members BOYCOTT Walgreens. . .

[wndycty]

. . .don't cross the picket lines! As I proud member of the NEA, I aint crossing the picket line. . .who is with me?

Walgreen pharmacists set to strike

By Robert Manor and Bruce Japsen
Tribune staff reporters
Published July 5, 2005, 9:26 PM CDT

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 pharmacists from being overworked and protect the public, which it says endangers the public.

"This is not about pay," said Chuck 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.
-snip-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-050705walgreen-story,1,5961674.story?coll=chi-business-hed

[XNASA]

1. Well I've got enough meds to last a month.

So I'm with you.

Guess I'll have to get my script filled at Osco if it's not over by then.

[wndycty]

2. LOL You know I can get you a deal on imported meds. . .

. . .LOL be sure to visit http://www.i-saverx.net and tell them I sent you. LOL

How have you been?

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. I'm with you! I don't ever cross picket lines.

My dad was a member of the Steel Workers Union. I would never, ever cross a picket line. :hi:

[blondeatlast]

4. I'm never sure--should the rest of us do so?

I have oodles of scrips at Walgreen's, but will support the strike if called upon. I'm not even in Illinois, so as for now, I don't think we are being asked to boycott.

Can anyone clarify this?

[wndycty]

5. Its Illinois or Chicago based pharmacies

:kick:

[blondeatlast]

6. Thanks. If it goes nationwide, I will support the strikers!

I live in Right to Be Screwed By Your Employer state, sadly.

[wndycty]

7. Oh that sucks. . .

:kick:

[linazelle]

8. I was already personally boycotting them, because of the birth control

issue.

[wndycty]

10. In Illinois was Osco. . .

. . .it was not Walgreens. Trust me on this. . .I was involved with that. In Wisconsin it was Walgreens, but in Illinois it was Osco that took that action.

[jmm]

12. It is the company's policy to allow pharmacists

not to dispense birth control due to personal beliefs. Some of the higher profiled cases have been in Wisconsin but this is their policy nationwide

[linazelle]

13. Ok...I'm now living in WI but from IL...they still deserve boycotting for

that everywhere.

[jmm]

9. If you need another reason to boycott them

Planned Parenthood Calls on Walgreens to End Prescription Denials

…..
In one of the latest incidents, a mother of six children, who is being identified only as Jane Doe,
obtained a prescription for emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy following condom
failure. Walgreens pharmacist Michelle Long refused to fill the patient’s prescription and berated
her for seeking the medication. Jane Doe did not receive her emergency contraception.
Emergency contraception, or EC, is a higher concentration of birth control that is FDA approved
to prevent pregnancy up to 120 hours after unprotected sex.

“Birth control is basic health care for women – 95% of American women use it in their
lifetimes,” Stewart writes to Bernauer. “EC is a safe, effective form of birth control and an
essential tool in the fight against unintended pregnancy. It is an unacceptable imposition on
women’s reproductive health and rights when their safe, legal prescriptions are denied.”

The Walgreens pharmacist’s refusal to fill Jane Doe’s prescription is part of a disturbing trend of
discrimination against patients seeking birth control. In addition to the Walgreens incidents,
former Kmart pharmacist Neil Noesen was disciplined by the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining
Board last month for his refusal to dispense or transfer a woman’s prescription for oral
contraceptives.
…..

[LiberallyInclined]

11. counting pills can be very lucrative...

he article:

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


don't look for a lot of sympathy from the general public when that salary number starts getting more airplay.

[yankeedem]

14. Then the general public

needs to go to pharmacy school (after finishing their college degree) and get a union pharmacy job. $100k a year is perfectly consistant with a professionals salary in a large metro area.

[LiberallyInclined]

15. i'm not knocking the salary they make-

but i'm betting that the general public will see it this way:

counting pills= $100,000/yr.= fuck those whiners.

i was a union construction worker for many years- many of those guys have trades that require just as much skill as a pharmacist, and they have to work A LOT of overtime to hit $100,000- they won't have much sympathy for the strikers, union or no.