The recognition agreement between the PDA Union and Boots was amended in February, and this resulted in a change to how the union facilities time is organised. There are now fewer PDA Regional Reps in the Boots Network, but each of those reps has more time dedicated to their union role.
As a result, the organisation of the network has been changed, and this meeting was an opportunity to explore different ways of workings.
The meeting was held in Birmingham and was the network’s first face-to-face meeting in 12 months. 9 of the 12 reps were able to attend. The reps who were unable to attend will receive an update this month.
The meeting was led by the PDA National Reps, Gordon Finlayson, Nicola Rees, Nav Bhogal, and Hala Jawad.
The main items discussed on the day were:
- The new rep structure and role clarification.
- Union facilities time.
- Lead roles.
- Communication within the network and with members.
Additional sessions were run by Paul Flynn, PDA National Officer for Scotland, which covered member engagement and recruitment, and a session on individual personality styles.
Part of the day also included a celebration of the third anniversary of the setting up of the network and a brief review of the achievements of the network.
The work of the network has developed in the last three years and will develop further going forward. This was an opportunity for the PDA Reps Network in Boots to get together and share their views. All the reps work hard to protect the interests of the pharmacists who work for Boots and, hopefully, following this session the reps will have a renewed enthusiasm to continue this valuable work.
A commitment that was made during the meeting was to improve communications within the PDA Reps Network in Boots. The reps are planning to meet again virtually at the end of November.
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Learn more
- PDA Union and Boots reach agreement on 2022/23 pay settlement
- Two thirds of Boots’ pharmacists are now members of the PDA Union
- Boots Newsletter – June 2022
- PDA Reps collaborate on member engagement
- PDA Reps meet to share best practice in supporting members
- PDA Reps networking event hailed a success
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