For the last month the union website had been counting down the time remaining until the ballot period opens but now it shows the time before the 11 March noon deadline for ballot papers to be received by the Qualified Independent person (QIP) Kanto Elect, who are managing the secret postal ballot on behalf of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC)
Unless the completed ballot papers supporting PDAU recognition (i.e. voting “YES”), received by the QIP by Noon on Monday 11 March, are 40% or more of those eligible to vote nothing will change and pharmacists will be blocked from trying again for a further three years.
The company’s senior management are campaigning vigorously against a “YES” vote and any delay in voting could benefit them if it makes reaching the 40% threshold less likely. The CAC have issued instructions to pharmacists who don’t receive ballot papers:
If you consider that you are eligible to vote and have not received a ballot paper by 22 February 2019, or if you do not think that you are eligible to vote , but receive a ballot paper, please contact the CAC Case Manager, Linda Lehan, by email at llehan@cac.gov.uk giving your full name and address. If you have recently changed your address and you have not informed your employer you should do so as soon as possible to ensure you receive your ballot paper on time.
Mark Pitt, Assistant General Secretary of PDA Union explained: “We want maximum participation in this ballot, so we have communicated comprehensively to those eligible to vote and made ourselves available to answer their questions.
We welcome an open discussion about what it means and from today I will also have some limited access to the internal Boots forum “Pharmacy Unscripted” where I will review any comments and answer questions. Pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists can also engage with us via the PDA social media, or send a private message to me here: mark.pitt@the-pda.org
We hope pharmacists will have made up their minds to vote “yes” by the time ballot papers are distributed and encourage individuals to return their ballot papers as soon as they receive them in order to give their vote the best chance of being received by the deadline.”
Pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists at grade 5, 6 & 7 in Boots stores will be entitled to vote and ballot papers will be sent to their home addresses from Kanto Elect by post on Monday 18 February.