The CAC has determined that pharmacists at Boots will be allowed to vote for their union of choice. Here's my "Previously..." paragraph.
Related: I've handed in my resignation letter, woop woop!
Boots has its own trade union, the Boots Pharmacists' Association (BPA), which on the surface already fulfils the role of a union. However, scratch past the surface and you'll see its headed by people who are closely linked to the company. It does not act independently of Boots and has never actively negotiated on behalf of pharmacists. Pharmacists at Boots will now have the option to derecognise the BPA and choose their own union.
Related: I've handed in my resignation letter, woop woop!
Boots has its own trade union, the Boots Pharmacists' Association (BPA), which on the surface already fulfils the role of a union. However, scratch past the surface and you'll see its headed by people who are closely linked to the company. It does not act independently of Boots and has never actively negotiated on behalf of pharmacists. Pharmacists at Boots will now have the option to derecognise the BPA and choose their own union.
This has arisen because of the continual workplace pressures endured by pharmacists at Boots, the UK's largest pharmacy chain, which in turn is putting patient safety in danger.
Boots has its own trade union, the Boots Pharmacists' Association (BPA), which on the surface already fufils the role of a union.
Almost four years today, years ago I walked away from my job at a large pharmacy chain. I had been there for three years and I had had enough. The pay wasn't exceptional, but money wasn't the issue that made me pack it in and embark on being a locum. It was the fact that I was effectively forced to work without a proper rest, eat my lunch while working, and work beyond closing time. At this pharmacy chain, chronic understaffing meant that we were always behind in our work. Piles of prescriptions were backlogged. Sometimes I would have to deliver medication after closing time.
Pharmacists - despite being a vital link in our healthcare - are treated exceptionally poorly at the country's favourite high street chemist.
The real kicker is that none of this was
acknowledged. At a performance review, I was asked how the pharmacy
chain could be made better. I said something along the lines of "more staff would be better."
Without skipping a beat (or blinking her eyes), my line manager asked
me to rephrase my answer. Full disclosure: I have never been given a good performance review at my old job.
I became fearful that I would be responsible for a serious error, one that would place someone in hospital. This, coupled with the cost to my health and personal life, gave me the push to seek something better.
I became fearful that I would be responsible for a serious error, one that would place someone in hospital. This, coupled with the cost to my health and personal life, gave me the push to seek something better.
The same story can be repeated in all the large pharmacy chains, including Boots. Pharmacists - despite being a vital link in our healthcare - are treated exceptionally poorly at the country's favourite high street chemist.
Yet, Boots still markets itself as the best pharmacy in the world, with better access, shorter waiting times and so on. Pharmacists at Boots are being expected to achieve all of this, while enduring a work culture that expects employees to work without rest and thus putting patient safety at risk.
Every pharmacist at Boots will be entitled to cast their ballot.
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