CHICAGO (AP) -- About 1,200 pharmacists at some 400 Walgreen Co. stores in the Chicago area went on strike Wednesday night, a union official said.þþThe union says it's striking over low staffing levels and growing workloads that union leaders claim increase the risk of mistakes that could harm patients. Walgreen says its pharmacies are safe and the union is using the issue as a bargaining chip for better pay.þþUnion spokesman Matt Demo said the strike started at 10 p.m. CDT Wednesday at stores in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. He said he did not know how many pharmacists kept working.þþThe union plans to negotiate with the company Thursday.þþWalgreen spokesman Michael Polzin said Wednesday that pharmacy hours would be shortened during a strike, but all pharmacies would remain open.þþLast week, the pharmacists rejected the drugstore chain's most recent contract offer, citing concerns about staffing levels. The union authorized a strike June 12, when the previous contract expired.þþIn the most recent proposal, Walgreen, the nation's largest drugstore chain in sales, agreed to increase pharmacist pay by 20 percent to more than $100,000 a year, plus benefits, for a 40-hour workweek, Polzin said.þþDeerfield-based Walgreen, which employs about 16,000 pharmacists at 4,800 drugstores in 45 states, has only one other union, which represents both pharmacists and store workers in the San Francisco area, Polzin said.þþ
Source: NY Times
