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Some Walmart pharmacies across the country may be closed on Monday (October 9) as frustrated workers plan a three-day walkout to protest working conditions.
One of the organizers of the walkout spoke to CNN about the plans.
"We don't believe that Walgreens is allowing us to give our patients safe care on a daily basis," they said. "Walgreens isn't responding, they're not fixing those things."
The organizer cited burdensome prescription and vaccination expectations from the company that are based on the employees that each pharmacy should have, not the actual number of workers.
Another employee told CNN that Walgreens has been pushing pharmacies to focus on vaccinating people ahead of the flu season.
"I spend almost all of my day in the shot room, and if I'm not in the shot room, I'm filling prescriptions because we're so behind," they said. "There have been nights where I've been on the verge of tears because of how hard it is," they said. "I had a patient give me a fist bump and tell me I was doing a good job, and that meant so much to me. The patients are caring more about us than the employer is."
It is unknown how many workers will walk off the job or what pharmacies could close. Some workers said they planned to walk out for just one day, while others have said their pharmacies will be closed for all three days.
Walgreens said it has been working to alleviate some of the problems the workers are complaining about.
"We are making significant investments in pharmacist wages and hiring bonuses to attract/retain talent in harder-to-staff locations," the company said in a statement.