In a historic turn of events, pharmacists working at Boots will have the opportunity to vote the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) as their representing union. As I said previously, this has come about because Boots has failed to address their continual workplace pressures and the subsequent risk to the public.
A number of years ago, my employer and I had a dispute. At a large pharmacy chain, I was accused of being verbally abusive to a patient and being unprofessional. They had created a case against me that essentially stated I had broken the Code of Ethics. The implications were severe, questioning my competence as a professional in more ways than one. My first port of call was the PDA, who within days had dispatched one of their best reps from England up to Scotland to fight my case. The charges were dropped and reduced to a written warning and to this day I've been an ardent supporter of the PDA.
As long as the BPA was still the union of the majority (on paper) then Boots did not legally need to acknowledge the PDA, an act known as recognition under British law.
Why is my story important? It's a story that echoes through other large pharmacy chains. The support given by the PDA to pharmacists at Boots, while meaningful, was still hamstrung because the PDA was not a recognised union within Boots. Pharmacists at Boots could call upon the PDA in the event of disciplinary proceedings, but Boots had cleverly created their own union, the BPA.
It was effectively a puppet union but it had enough registered members for it to satisfy the letter of the law. As long as the BPA was still the union of the majority (on paper) then Boots did not legally need to acknowledge organisations like the PDA, an act known as recognition under British law.
So, the effectiveness of the PDA had it's limits and it could only argue individual cases. Not being the recognised union, collective negotiation/bargaining of employment rights and salary was impossible.
This development is historic, now Boots face the prospect they may have to recognise the PDA and will not be able to ignore the rights of employee pharmacists as easily as in the past.
In my specific case, the PDA rep couldn't bring the full power of our union to bear. My case hinged on him being experienced. He had to know his employment law, have nerves of steel and be damned good at arguing. The fact the whole affair ended with a written warning is testimony to that.
This development is historic, now Boots face the prospect they may have recognise the PDA and will not be able to ignore the rights of employee pharmacists as easily as in the past. If all goes well, pharmacists at the company can collectively raise issues (with the full support of the PDA) and real positive changes can finally happen at the country's largest pharmacy chain.
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