Employers are trying to block pharmacy technicians’ strikes with summary proceedings

The summary proceedings will be heard tomorrow or the day after tomorrow in Utrecht.

The unions announced yesterday that pharmacy employees will stop work next Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Due to the Christmas holidays, this means in practice that many public pharmacies will remain closed for nine days.

The Employers’ Association of Independent Public Pharmacists (WZOA) is very concerned about the safety of patients. The unions say that emergency care will remain guaranteed during the strike. But according to the employers’ association, this is in danger.

“Normally, each recipe is seen by at least two employees,” says chairman Karin Beuning. “If the pharmacist has to do everything himself due to the strike, this creates risks. It is not without reason that we use the four-eyes principle. That is not possible during such a strike.”

The association is also concerned about people who need chronic medication. “We have been seeing hoarding ever since it became known.” The WZOA feels “completely misunderstood” by the announced strike by the unions.

The professional association of pharmacists KNMP, which looks at the quality of care, calls the strike “completely irresponsible.”

“For one day, emergency care can still be provided by on-duty pharmacies that are specifically designed for this purpose. Regular care for people who need medication on a daily basis is then not included, but you can still organize that for one day,” says Jos Lüers , chairman of the scientific section of public pharmacies of the professional association. “But closing the doors nationally for nine days is of a completely different order than striking for one day.”

Lüers emphasizes that the professional association supports improved employment conditions for pharmacy assistants. At the same time, he points out the risks for vulnerable patients in particular, due to the exceptionally long strike.

People who suffer from epilepsy or psychoses, for example, are already at high risk of seizures if they cannot take their medication for a short time. “So many patients who would normally be satisfied with planned and regular care end up in emergency care very quickly. And the limited number of service pharmacies is not designed for this.”

Lüers is also concerned about the pharmacists who are trying to keep their pharmacy open for their patients with a limited number of employees during the strike. When it is very busy, the waiting time will increase, which can lead to aggression. “That happened during the previous strikes. And aggression creates stress and there is a greater chance of errors when dispensing medicines.”

The unions say that they have indeed taken the interests of patients into account. “We normally only announce a strike a day in advance. Now almost a week in advance so that people have time to stock up on enough medicines,” says CNV spokesperson Manon van Essen. “We now have to wait and see how the judge will weigh all these interests.”

Employees will go on strike next week because, according to the unions, wages have been too low for years and the workload is too high. The unions want wages to be increased by at least 6 percent retroactively from July.

They also want the minimum wage to increase to 16 euros per hour and more measures to reduce work pressure. The unions also demand that employees be paid for the time they spend preparing for the working day.

The employers offer 2 percent from July 1 and 5 percent from July 1 next year. They say that they cannot give more due to the policies of insurers and the government. “I think we are very reasonable,” says Beuning of the employers’ organization.