Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the California State Assembly for passing AB 1286 (Haney), which will begin to alleviate the chronic understaffing of community pharmacies and pharmacist burnout that puts patients at risk of medication errors.

“California has increasingly relied on pharmacists to provide healthcare to patients. When that’s coupled with understaffing, it leads to burnout for pharmacists, pharmacy techs and all pharmacy staff,” said Andrea Zinder, president, UFCW Local 324. “AB 1286 is critically important to ensure that pharmacists and pharmacy staff alike are protected in our workplaces so they can handle the increased demand and workload in patient care without compromising quality care and safety. UFCW members are proud that the Assembly saw the need for this important public health legislation.”

In 2021, the California Board of Pharmacy released a workforce survey of pharmacists that sought information about working conditions in community pharmacies. The survey results highlighted what UFCW’s member pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy staff already knew – they faced significant challenges in terms of their workload, which was further exacerbated by the expanded role they played in the COVID-19 pandemic:

• 83% of respondent pharmacists in community chain pharmacies said they don’t have sufficient time to provide appropriate patient consultation. 
• 91% said current staffing levels are inappropriate to ensure adequate patient care. 
• 78% of respondents said they do not have time to provide adequate screening prior to the immunization of a vaccine. 

In response to the survey, the Board established a Medication Error Reduction and Workforce Ad Hoc Committee to consider the issues of medication errors, workforce challenges and the intersection between the two, and undertook review of its regulation of pharmacy technicians. AB 1286 is the result of this work.

The Medication Error Reduction and Patient Safety Act will:

• Ensure mandatory medication error reporting to an independent third party.
• Establish a minimum staffing requirement and require closures of the pharmacy for lunch breaks where staffing doesn’t overlap.
• Give pharmacists authority to shut down the pharmacy for unsafe working conditions like rodent infestations, unsafe pharmacy temperatures and dangerous staffing levels.  
• Increase the Board of Pharmacy’s citation and fine authority for unlicensed activity.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 1, 2023

Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected]

Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the California State Senate for passing SB 553 (Cortese), which will require employers to implement basic protections to protect workers from violence while they’re on the job.

Over the last several years, reports of workplace violence from members have skyrocketed – now most of our members have been the victim of at least one incident of threatened or actual workplace violence and many intolerably experience workplace violence on a regular basis. Members have been robbed at gunpoint; they’ve been attacked physically, some to the point of needing to be hospitalized; they’ve been spat upon by people infected with COVID-19; they are routinely threatened with violence; and at some stores, members have even been murdered while performing their jobs.

“It’s unacceptable that workers in California wake up each morning afraid that they will be assaulted or killed on the job and won’t make it home that night,” said Jim Araby, director of strategic campaigns, UFCW Local 5. “Last year, a UFCW Local 5 member unfortunately didn’t get to go home after his shift because he was shot and killed during an altercation with an assailant who was in the alcohol section stealing liquor. Essential grocery workers are trained to sell food to customers, not to stop shoplifting and prevent active shooter situations. We’re glad the Senate stood up for workers and passed SB 553 today.”

Workplace violence incidents are becoming more prevalent across all different types of workplaces in California – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has identified workplace violence as the second leading cause of fatal occupational injury at the workplace and estimates that nearly two million workers are affected by workplace violence each year. Last year, the F.B.I. said more than half of active shooter attacks occurred in places of commerce, including stores. However, the California Division Of Occupational Safety & Health (Cal/OSHA) has yet to adopt a General Industry Workplace Violence Standard to protect workers on the job. Cal/OSHA adopted a Healthcare Workplace Violence Standard in 2017, but this standard only offers protections for healthcare workers, excluding most of California’s workforce. Six years is too long to wait for workers who experience workplace deaths, injuries, and incidents daily. 

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1. https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/dosh_publications/worksecurity.html
2. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/50-jump-active-shooter-incidents-2020-2021-fbi/story?id=84910934

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2023

Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected]

Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the California State Senate for passing SB 725 (Smallwood-Cuevas), the Grocery Worker Safety Net, which requires a grocery establishment who conducts layoffs as a result of a merger or acquisition to provide workers with one-week severance pay for every year of service. 

“It’s no secret that mergers affect working families the most, from job losses to higher prices,” said Kathy Finn, president, UFCW Local 770. “That’s why SB 725 is so important; it provides workers and their families just a little peace of mind during an extremely stressful time by providing one week of severance pay per year of service if a merger or acquisition results in a job loss. SB 725 is an essential bill to protect workers whose jobs are threatened during a merger or business acquisition. We’re glad the Senate supported this important bill.”

In October 2022, it was announced that Kroger and Albertsons would pursue a $24.6 billion mega-merger, joining together two of the largest grocery chains in the United States. Nationally, these two grocery chains employ over 700,000 workers and operate over 50 manufacturing facilities and 5,000 retail stores. California has more of these two grocery chains than any other state in the country, with Kroger operating approximately 233 stores under the Ralphs, Food 4 Less and Foods Co banners and Albertsons operating approximately 579 grocery stores under the Albertsons, Safeway, Vons and Pavilions banners.

In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, 115 of 159 Albertsons stores are within two miles of a Kroger store and are potential targets of closures by the Federal Trade Commission. This could result in an estimated 5,750 jobs being lost in the Los Angeles region. It’s clear that a merger between these two companies will result in large scale layoffs for workers and without severance pay protections, the loss of this many jobs in one region will have ripple effects through the local economy and further burden an already tattered social safety net. 

SB 725 (Smallwood-Cuevas) is part of UFCW’s legislative package to mitigate the effects of mergers and acquisitions on the retail and grocery industries. The other two bills in the package are: 

• AB 647 (Holden), Protect Grocery Workers Job Act, will protect grocery and pharmacy workers’ jobs by strengthening California’s existing Statewide Grocery Worker Retention Law and requiring recall and rehiring rights. This will ensure that skilled and trained workers can continue to provide our communities with access to safe food and lessen the economic impact to our social safety net. 
• AB 853 (Maienschein), Californians’ Right to Know on Essential Goods and Services. California residents and workers must have the right to know about proposed mergers in the Grocery and Drug-Retail industries that affect the supply and affordability of food and medicine and the supply of experienced grocery retail workers with knowledge of food safety and licensed pharmacy staff entrusted with supplying safe and accurate medications and clinical services to ailing Californians. AB 853 will require grocery or drug-retail companies to notify the California Attorney General 180 days in advance of finalizing a proposed merger or acquisition and submit an impact analysis report on the impact of the merger or acquisition on communities, such as food deserts, food prices, and access to food, and workers, such as supply of experienced grocery workers, unemployment, wages and benefits and more. 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2023

Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected]