Drugmonkey Was Dooced by Rite-Aid

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Follow my blog with Bloglovin I've often had fears in the past about blogging.  I know I have personally taken great care to not blog about where I work, personal information regarding work (HIPAA violations), negative posts about current management, or anything that would seem inappropriate from the standpoint of the corporation I draw my living.  To be honest, I don't work for a retail big pharma organization as this blogger did.  I USED to work for Eckerd before it was bought (I think?) by Rite Aid, and I do remember the day-to-day struggles.  It was the reason I begged for a home health infusion job with a $20,000 pay cut per year just to leave retail forever back in 2002.  Back then though... retail jobs were a dime a dozen.  I don't know how it is where Drugmonkey lives today (CA, I think?) but here... crickets.

David Stanley (Drugmonkey).  Seemingly someone I would want on my team, perhaps.  Seemingly someone who tells it like it is and also writes for Drug Topics.  Well, he was fired by Rite-Aid.  And though he and I are different in many ways (political, for one), I kind of like to imagine had I stayed in retail ten years ago this is what I would have become.  I do believe that this is his chance to change and that something so out-of-ordinary as firing for a blog post (which has happened before... thus the term Dooced) can turn into something better.  He deserves better than Rite-Aid!

Did you know he can write really well?  No I'm not saying he can write well.  He can write really REALLY well.

Rite-Aid was probably scared of that and waiting for the perfect post to bring down the guillotine to his career with Rite-Aid.  What they didn't expect though is the result of this firing and what this is going to do to their company.

I'm expecting to see this story go viral, only if enough people get a hold of it and pass it on.

Rite-Aid fires pharmacist for a blog post.

Pass it on...

From Drug Topics by David Stanley, RPh just a few days ago:
Members of seven Southern California locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) have voted to reject a contract offer from drug retailer Rite Aid and to authorize union leaders to call a strike if an agreement can’t be reached.

Although specific numbers weren’t immediately released, the union called the vote, which took place from July 26 through July 30, “overwhelming” and said in a statement, “The members’ emphatic rejection of Rite Aid’s demands and their vote for strike authorization will push management toward negotiating an agreement the workers can ratify.”

According to the same statement, the UFCW says that Rite Aid is seeking 34 concessions from workers, including:

• Effective elimination of healthcare for workers' spouses and children

• An increase in out-of-pocket costs for healthcare benefits of up to $10,000 a year

• Virtual elimination of all accumulated sick leave pay

• Reduction of the number of hours workers are allowed to work

• Elimination of the 40-hour work week and 24-hour guarantee for part-time employees

In a statement of its own, Rite Aid announced, “The specifics of our proposal are matters we will be discussing at the bargaining table with the Union as we continue to work hard to reach a fair agreement for all involved.

“We’re disappointed that the Union has called for a strike authorization vote and think such a vote is premature, especially since the Union hasn’t even given us a counter proposal to our first proposal.”

The proposal would affect all store employees except store managers, including pharmacists, at Rite Aid locations from Kern County south to the Mexican border. The soonest a strike could begin would be August 8, 72 hours after the current contract extension is set to expire.

The union is also currently in negotiations with CVS/Caremark.

Related articles

Rite Aid Failure

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When will big retail pharmacy chains learn? Rite Aid deserves a slap on the wrist for what it has promised potential customers.

Really Rite-Aid? Really? You've stooped to an all new low trying to compete with CVS and Walgreens. Yes there are reasons that won't qualify a patient for the $5 reward for the pharmacist not complying... but guess who gets to explain to every patient the rules? That's right! Your employee. Way to make working for Rite-Aid to be the worst possible retail company to work for.

Stock is worth less than $1.50.

Instead of making your employees hate you Rite-Aid, how about coming up with something not so dangerous?

I suppose Rite-Aid is imagining most stores do less than 200 rxs/day. Are they hiring more pharmacists to help meet this demand? What steps are put into place to ensure this is something a pharmacist can do SAFELY. So a company whose shareholders have stock at $1.00 a share wants to give away more of their money when the RULE isn't met?

RITE-AID YOU FAIL. You fail on every level. You fail on appearance, professionalism, and ethics.

It won't be long though and Rite-Aid will be off the street for good.

This is Rite-Aid's hail mary pass.

Will Rite Aid Closing Be Another Loss In Our Failing Economy?

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Several years ago, pharmacy jobs, especially retail, were a dime a dozen. You could literally get ill at your supervisor and decide to leave and have another job along with a nifty sign on bonus the next day. I'm not so sure that is the current state of things here. I keep getting more and more news stories of Walgreens buying up Rite Aid stores. Remember Rite Aid was the pharmacy that bought JC Penney's Eckerd in the hope of competing with the bigger and more lucrative Walgreens and CVS. I fear if Rite Aid DOES close, at least HERE anyway, things in the pharmacy market will become more grim. Instead of a pharmacists' market, it will become the opposite. It makes me want to cling to my current job with everything I have, and it's all due to news and our economy. Walgreens to Acquire 12 Rite Aid Locations

Rite Aid Feels Walmart Pressure (another reason I do not like Wal-mart)

15 Companies That May Not Survive in 2009 (Rite Aid listed)