What's it like to be a union pharmacist?

[PharBeyondDriven]

Any union pharmacists here? Do you have better working conditions? How much do they take out of your paycheck?

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[samven582]

Any union pharmacists here? Do you have better working conditions? How much do they take out of your paycheck?

I hate it. Every decision is based on seniority.

 

[pencilandpen]

I belong to a union, good thing is the union will negotiate a raise for you, also slightly better work conditions, for example they let me sit on a chair even though its a retail setting. I try not to sit on my chair too often, dont wanna appear lazy lol.
I pay 1k union fee per year though, but so far I got two 4 k raises in 2 years so not bad.
so far I like it.
who knows how long it will last
I joined the union as it already existed, trying to form a new union in this day and age is gonna be real hard lol

 

[wagrxm2000]

I belong to a union, good thing is the union will negotiate a raise for you, also slightly better work conditions, for example they let me sit on a chair even though its a retail setting. I try not to sit on my chair too often, dont wanna appear lazy lol.
I pay 1k union fee per year though, but so far I got two 4 k raises in 2 years so not bad.
so far I like it.
who knows how long it will last
I joined the union as it already existed, trying to form a new union in this day and age is gonna be real hard lol

Is your pay higher then pharmacists in the same area?

 

[pencilandpen]

Is your pay higher then pharmacists in the same area?

as of right now it is just slightly higher than the average retail salary in my region, but I only been working for 2 years.
I mainly joined because everyone else was in the union lol, peer pressure.
I am happy if I can get inflation adjusted raises every year, so that at least my salary isnt going backwards

retail is still retail though, very busy and gets yelled by angry customers frequently.

 

[wagrxm2000]

as of right now it is just slightly higher than the average retail salary in my region, but I only been working for 2 years.
I mainly joined because everyone else was in the union lol, peer pressure.
I am happy if I can get inflation adjusted raises every year, so that at least my salary isnt going backwards

retail is still retail though, very busy and gets yelled by angry customers frequently.

What chain?

I know nothing about unions, are all pharmacists union with the same company?

 

[VA77]

I would pay 1k in a heartbeat to have collective bargaining power. Union may not be perfect but its better than most work conditions.

 

[pencilandpen]

What chain?

I know nothing about unions, are all pharmacists union with the same company?

no its not a pharmacist union, its actually a retail workers union, so we got cashiers, techs, food workers, bakers, butchers, and also pharmacists LOL.
joining is optional

 

[owlegrad]

I have never heard of an optional union. So if you aren't in the union you don't get the union negotiated raises and such?

 

[Modest_anteater]

I belong to a union, good thing is the union will negotiate a raise for you, also slightly better work conditions, for example they let me sit on a chair even though its a retail setting. I try not to sit on my chair too often, dont wanna appear lazy lol.
I pay 1k union fee per year though, but so far I got two 4 k raises in 2 years so not bad.
so far I like it.
who knows how long it will last
I joined the union as it already existed, trying to form a new union in this day and age is gonna be real hard lol

California or NY?

 

[Momus]

no its not a pharmacist union, its actually a retail workers union, so we got cashiers, techs, food workers, bakers, butchers, and also pharmacists LOL.
joining is optional

UFCW.

Joining is really not optional, but management wants to push people not to join so they might say it's "optional" for you, they will make you "assistant manager/manager in training" to get you out of union and out of the staff rph position (union position). The more people they have on their side (non union), the less bargaining power union workers have.

 

[Mambo#5]

I have never heard of an optional union. So if you aren't in the union you don't get the union negotiated raises and such?

When I was a teacher, joining the union was optional.

Everyone benefits from unions whether you sign up or not.

 

[maria1oh]

I heard walgreens in chicago market has rph union.

 

[PharBeyondDriven]

Does WAG still pay pharmacists in other states $3k a year to maintain an Illinois license?

 

[Ninetails]

I know RPhs who are in a union. Their lives are great. They shop on Amazon, watch youtube and netflix on the job and actually don't work at all. The union protects them. They have better benefits, they are allowed to work in blue jeans (the rest of the employees are not), have guaranteed raises and pension, they can come in late and stay late if they want to (or work extra one week to create extra vacation time the next), their leave requests are never denied, they are able to share vacation times (one girl had nearly half a year donated to her for maternity leave) and the rules don't apply to them. When inclement weather hits, they are too valuable to be expected to stay, but if anyone not unionized calls out or goes home, they are written up for it. All kinds of messed up.

Unions are great. We need more of them.

 

[PharBeyondDriven]

I heard that union members generally get paid once per week. Also, 1.5x pay after 8 hours!

 

[hye345]

Also, 1.5x pay after 8 hours!

This part is true of any pharmacist in Ca I believe.

 

[Dred Pirate]

Does WAG still pay pharmacists in other states $3k a year to maintain an Illinois license?

why would they do this?

 

[Robbin]

I know nothing about unions, are all pharmacists union with the same company?

 

[Dred Pirate]

I know nothing about unions, are all pharmacists union with the same company?

depends on the locale - but usually it is a hospital (cali, etc) or one chain - osco in chi town (used to be unionized), wags in chi town had a different union - but they were busted in about 2005 after a strike where to many rph's crossed the picked lines because they didn't want to miss a paycheck

 

[PolarPop]

Almost all the hospital staff pharmacists in NYC are in a union together with the misc healthcare workers. It's like $1200 a year but gets them 3-4% raises a year, free healthcare, and a pension. There's also a ton of 1.5x OT available since there is almost always someone on some kind of leave.

 

[Dred Pirate]

Almost all the hospital staff pharmacists in NYC are in a union together with the misc healthcare workers. It's like $1200 a year but gets them 3-4% raises a year, free healthcare, and a pension. There's also a ton of 1.5x OT available since there is almost always someone on some kind of leave.

I know someone who moved to NYC from a MUCH lower cost of living area and told me that NYC paid a lot less!

 

[PharBeyondDriven]

It's true, especially in manhattan. Across the river in Hoboken you'll get paid more.