Over 2,200 pharmacists and pre-reg graduates who work at Boots have already joined us and want us to be recognised to deal with management on their behalf. The PDA Union already has the right to represent its members at disciplinaries and grievances, but many Boots pharmacists have told us they would like us to also have the right to collectively bargain for their terms and conditions of employment (such as pay, hours and holiday) and to be able to negotiate better working conditions for them.
Pharmacists at Boots deserve to be treated fairly and with respect at work. They should have job security, fair reward and a good working environment. They want to be able to put patient safety and professional standards above the company’s drive for profits. Pharmacists at Boots want us to be legally recognised so that we can work with management to achieve these things.
The owners and senior management of Boots do not want us to be recognised for those purposes. Over many years they have stood against the wishes of their employees and blocked our efforts to be legally recognised. Senior management even signed an agreement with the non-independent BPA to try to stop us from speaking up for our members and Boots pharmacists generally. The deal with the BPA prevented us from applying for recognition until 2018, when pharmacists overwhelming voted to end that arrangement. Read more
The law in the UK gives employees rights at work. Under employment law, workers are allowed to vote for who they want to speak for them. After pharmacists voted to end the agreement with BPA we applied for recognition and because senior management continue to refuse to agree that you should have an independent voice at work, the next step is a legally binding ballot.
British law gives you this option, but you need to act to make it happen. We need every Boots pharmacist and pre-registration pharmacist to vote in favour of the PDA Union being recognised.
You don’t have to be a PDA Union member already to vote, but if you want to join us, that’s great. We are already the biggest pharmacists’ union in the UK, with over 28,000 members, but we’ve still got room and a welcome for you to join us too.
If we win this vote, we will work tirelessly as your voice at work, putting pharmacists first.