WOONSOCKET, R. I — Two CVS stores close to CVS Health’s headquarters in Rhode Island have filed petitions to join the Pharmacy Guild, which is building a national pharmacy union, one organizer confirmed to MedCity News on Monday.

The news was first reported by USA Today. One of the CVS stores is in Wakefield, while the other is in Westerly. Both locations are 24-hour pharmacies and are about an hour from CVS Health’s headquarters in Woonsocket. Each has about five pharmacists who are severely overworked, declared Shane Jerominski, a pharmacist and co-founder of the Pharmacy Guild.

“They do close to 7,000 prescriptions a week. You would think, ‘Wait a minute, they must have an army of pharmacists to do that.’ But no, even though they’re 24 hours, they don’t have that many people,” Jerominski said in an interview. “That’s a lot of responsibility for a handful of pharmacists and a lot of patients’ lives on the line.”

He added that getting stores so close to CVS’ headquarters is a “slam dunk” for the union. The stores are the second and third locations to file petitions to join the Pharmacy Guild after an Omnicare pharmacy location in Las Vegas filed in late March (Omnicare is CVS-owned). The petitions at the Rhode Island locations only include pharmacists and not pharmacy technicians, though Jerominski expects them to join soon. The Las Vegas location includes both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, totaling about 31 people.

CVS Health issued the following statement:

“Since 2021, we’ve invested roughly $1 billion in wage increases and, in 2024, we’re awarding tens of millions of dollars in bonuses to recognize and thank our pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

We’re enabling pharmacy teams to schedule additional support as needed, enhancing recruitment and strengthening pharmacy technician training. We’re also introducing innovative tools to support workload and workflow, enabling our pharmacy teams to better focus on patient care.

Our customer and colleague net promotor scores (NPS), which measure loyalty, satisfaction and enthusiasm, continue to trend up in the front store and pharmacy driven by investments we’re making in our stores, pharmacies and colleagues.

We respect our employees’ right to either unionize or refrain from doing so. We believe the direct, two-way relationship we have with our colleagues is the best way to resolve workplace concerns. We continually listen to our colleagues’ feedback which helps inform our programs and policies.”