technicians, and many pharmacists have joined the call to unionize as well. This strength in num- bers is leaning into the potential of unionization to strengthen the pharmacy industry and the quality of services delivered. On the other hand, failing to take strong action will only compound the problems more rapidly and lead to a greater job exodus — the largest walkout of all. In many sectors of healthcare, large percent- ages of workers have plans to leave their jobs in the upcoming handful of years. Pharmacies are not immune to this. Holding the Pharmacy Industry Accountable Union contracts are currently under negotiation across more than one state. “I think pharmacists have to understand we have so much power in this situation — if pharmacists and technicians stick together, we could be a very powerful union that that would rival any of them that exist right now,” Jerominski asserts. “It’s a platform for change.” As these contracts move forward and more employ- ees unionize, we can hope that we will continue to move towards safer levels of pharmacy staffing before the crisis deepens, while at the same time acknowledging the invaluable and highly skilled role of the pharmacy technician.
collective effort to hold companies accountable. Pharmacy unions like The Pharmacy Guild have some key initiatives they are spearheading: a min- imum standard wage for technicians that is in line with their level of training and responsibility, and contracts that guarantee benefits like a minimum number of hours and time off to spend holidays with family. This movement puts the power back in the hands of those ultimately responsible for en- suring safety for the public: the pharmacy staff, not the boardroom. Strategically building robust union contracts equals renewed confidence for those considering investing in a career as a pharmacy technician in the first place. It’s the best solution for more reli- ably filling the tens of thousands of open positions across the country, and ultimately ensuring the public’s confidence as well in the services their pharmacies provide. What is the Value of This to Pharmacists? We know that pharmacy technician shortages mean that pharmacists are burdened with doing jobs that would otherwise be allocated to techni- cians, increasing their workload, and pulling them away from their responsibilities. These critical re- sponsibilities include activities like educating pa- tients on how to safely take their medications — as- suming there hasn’t been an error in delivering the right medication or dose to them in the first place. This illustrates that every concern that belongs to a pharmacy technician also has an impact on how well pharmacists can do their jobs safely and with- out risk to their licenses and careers. Considering these effects, how many pharmacists would prefer a raise over another technician for their pharmacy and what has a more significant impact on their quality of life and job satisfaction? The number of pharmacists that report burnout and patient safe- ty concerns is equally high to that of pharmacy
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