Target pharmacy workers in Brooklyn to form union

Pharmacy workers in Target’s Brooklyn, NY-based store have voted to form a microunion, becoming the first pharmacy in the retail giant’s history to unionize, according to Reuters.

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The pharmacy workers voted 7-2 to form a microunion. The group reportedly included pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Previous attempts to form unions by Target pharmacy employees in Detroit and New York City failed.

Target executives vowed to appeal the decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to allow the vote. "Because of the pending sale of the business, we don't believe it was appropriate for the NLRB to move forward with the petition," spokeswoman Molly Snyder told Reuters. "We believe it should have been dismissed and made that argument at the hearing."

Back in June, CVS announced a $1.9 billion-dollar deal to buy Target’s more than 1,660 pharmacies and nearly 80 clinics in 47 states. Each of the in-store pharmacies will be rebranded as a CVS/Pharmacy.

"It is a big win for us," Lou Solicito, organizing director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, told Reuters. "We are ready to bargain a contract with Target."

In recent years, chain pharmacy stores have successfully rebuffed or discouraged numerous efforts of pharmacists to form unions.  

See also: Pharmacists of America: Which side are you on?