A secret postal ballot will determine if pharmacists and foundation trainees at Superdrug secure an independent voice at work at the AS Watson owned company, which is also a member of the Company Chemists Association. Voting is scheduled to take place between 28 January and 17 February.
In 2019, Boots pharmacists voted in their thousands in a similar process, and since then a professional working relationship has evolved between the company and union who have reached beneficial agreements on pay and other workplace issues, and the two parties working collaboratively on many other topics.
Mark Pitt, PDA Union General Secretary said: “Recognition at Boots has enabled pharmacists there to have a greater say on many issues that matter to the profession. This includes training, workload and health & safety matters; pay negotiations have put many millions of pounds of extra income into the pockets of pharmacists at Boots, whether they are members of the PDA Union or not.
Recognition is of overall benefit to the company and to the pharmacist workforce and we always strive to resolve potential disputes early, locally and together in the spirit of partnership.”
Subsequent recognition at LloydsPharmacy was secured through a voluntarily recognition agreement. More recently pharmacists at Superdrug began the process of seeking recognition, and as the company have decided not to voluntarily recognise the PDA Union, this has resulted in the first such ballot for pharmacists since Boots.
In a message to all PDA members, Mr Pitt said: “Those employed pharmacists [at Superdrug] are able to vote in a postal ballot in order to secure an independent voice at work. That would seem reasonable, EXCEPT that unfair laws mean if less than 40% vote ‘Yes’ it won’t happen, even if nobody votes ‘No’ to union recognition. As you may realise from local elections where you live, turnout in democratic processes can easily be below that level and therefore it is imperative that all pharmacists are encouraged to participate in the democratic process.”
Recognising that many pharmacists are busy with work and home lives and so need an extra prompt to participate, Mr Pitt told all PDA Union members that:
“Pharmacists like you and me have influence through the PDA because we are many and because we are united. This is an occasion when we can demonstrate that power. The vote of any Superdrug pharmacist you speak to may be the one that ensures the 40% threshold is reached and success secured. We’ve won before, let’s make sure we do it again.”
Read the full message to all PDA members here.
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