Boots have announced that they have appointed Tracey Clements as Chief Operating Officer. Tracey is currently an executive at the retail giant Tesco.
Mark Pitt, Assistant General Secretary of PDA Union, said: “The current senior management team at Boots have spent almost 8 years denying pharmacists an independent voice at work and blocking any negotiations from taking place over important topics, such as pay, hours and working conditions. Pharmacists will be hopeful that this new appointment will bring a fresh perspective to employees’ rights at work.”
Tesco have a long-standing recognition agreement with the independent retail trade union, USDAW. In that agreement the company says:
‘Our partnership has helped us to build a better Tesco for our colleagues, customers and communities, and it has played a central role in enabling the business to adapt, innovate and move forward.
Our partnership helps us to listen and respond to what matters to our colleagues, and work together to create a great place to work for our colleagues and a great place to shop for our customers.’
Mark Pitt concluded: “This partnership is the sort of positive and balanced relationship that pharmacists at Boots want to secure with their employer. Boots senior management have demonstrated that they don’t listen properly to their pharmacists, even when there is an overwhelming vote for change secured through a democratic ballot process; hopefully they’ll learn about the benefits of trade union recognition from their new colleague, who has been brought in to strengthen the management at Boots.”
Pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists at Boots will be able to secure independent trade union recognition by voting YES in a ballot which starts on 4th February 2019.