The Guild has reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) for the renewal of the CVS contract. The Negotiation Committee feels this is the best contract that can be reached under the current economic conditions.
There are no takeaways in wages or benefits.
This is important. Other employers have frozen wages or cut wages and cut benefits. CVS repeatedly emphasized this in negotiations. We unfortunately know that to be true.
The Tentative Agreement extends the contract for 3 years and adds protections for the disputes process. In the past there were no definite steps in the process, resulting in delay. The changes are listed below.
1. Modify Article 10.6, as follows:
“A grievance must be raised within ten (10) calendar days following the event giving rise to such grievance, or be forever waived. “Calendar days” are defined as successive days on the calendar excluding holidays set forth in this agreement and holidays observed by CVS within the Guild represented stores.”
2. Modify Articles 10.2 and 10.3, as follows:
Article 10.2:
Step 1. Within ten (10) calendar days of the event giving rise to such grievance, the pharmacists or pharmacists either directly or with their Guild representative shall endeavor to adjust the matter with the assistance of the Pharmacy Manager. Failure by the company to respond within ten (10) calendar days, shall automatically move the grievance to the next step.
Step 2. If they are unable to arrive at a satisfactory adjustment in Step 1, and within ten (10) calendar days of the date of such adjustment in Step 1, the pharmacist or the pharmacists and the Guild representative shall adjust the matter with the District Leader. Failure by the company to respond within ten (10) calendar days, shall automatically move the grievance to the next step.
Step 3. If they are unable to arrive at a satisfactory adjustment in Step 2, and within ten (10) calendar days of the date of such adjustment in Step 2, the matter shall then be presented to the appropriate next-in-line Employer supervisory employee, as designated by the Employer. The grievance will be discussed by a representative or representatives of the Guild, and representative or representatives of the employer within ten (10) days in an attempt to resolve the grievance. The decision of the Employer will be then stated in writing and sent to the Guild fourteen (14) days of the discussion date. Failure to comply within the time limits contained in this Step 3 shall render the grievance null and void. Any rights possessed by either the Guild or the employee with respect to arbitration shall be irrevocably waived.
Article 10.3:
“Arbitration. In the event that a satisfactory adjustment cannot be reached between the parties, as stated above, the matter in dispute shall be submitted to an arbitrator. Written demand for arbitration must be made within forty-five (45) days from the date of filing of the grievance but not prior to the Step 2 grievance meeting. Failure to comply within the time limits shall render the grievance null and void. Any rights possessed by either the Guild or the employee with respect to arbitration shall be irrevocably waived. The Arbitrator shall be selected by either party requesting a panel of seven (7) arbitrators from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Upon receipt of the panel, the parties shall alternately strike names until one name is remaining. The expense of the arbitration shall be equally divided between the Guild and the Employer. There shall be no refusal to handle work during negotiations or arbitration.”
Replacing Easter with Martin Luther King Day. This was a CVS proposal which they said was to align Guild contract holidays with CVS corporate holidays. In a casual survey during negotiations more than 2/3 of respondents were agreeable with the CVS proposal.
Article 6.1:
Recognized Holidays. The following days (or the days nationally observed in lieu thereof) shall be recognized as holidays for eligible full-time and part-time pharmacists as defined in Section 6.3 effective the 2022 calendar year:
New Year's Day
Labor Day
Martin Luther King Day
Thanksgiving Day
Memorial Day
Christmas Day
Independence Day
Veteran's Day
One (1) Personal Holiday if employed 1 or more continuous years
Wage adjustments:
a. The base rate for new employees shall be $60 per hour.
b. For those employees with rates between the base rate and the top rate, the yearly increases shall be, as follows:
Year 1: 1.50% increase
Year 2: 1.50% increase
Year 3: 1.75% increase
c. For those employees who are at the top of the rate, the yearly increases shall be, as follow (new top rate):
Year 1: 0.50% ($74.77)
Year 2: 1.00% ($75.52)
Year 3: 1.25% ($76.46)
d. For those employees who are at the top rate, they shall receive a $1,000 lump sum payment each year they are at the top rate upon the anniversary of the contract renewal date.
THE WAGE INCREASE WILL BE EFFECTIVE 3/28/2021 IF THE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT IS RATIFIED
A secure ballot link will be emailed to you on 3/30/2021
If you don't receive your email please contact the Guild at contactus@gfpp.com or 916-550-1119. We'll need your name, Employee ID#, and personal email address. Your old link will be voided and a new secure link sent to you.
If you work with someone who didn’t receive a ballot tell them to contact the Guild at contactus@gfpp.com or 916-550-1119. Not everyone knows they need to “opt in” to receive Guild email or be registered to vote.
Balloting will be open until April 16 15:00 PDT
The Guild Negotiating Committee
NAME EMAIL STORE
Howard Hertz ed@gfpp.com Guild President
Sean (Choon) Choi sean.choi@gfpp.com 08867 (current member for CVS on the Guild Executive Board)
Linnea Stalnaker Linnkay22@aol.com 08849 (past member for CVS on the Guild Executive Board)
Jay Bhakta Jayanb169@gmail.com 09571
Todd Takasaki tadashi1991@gmail.com 08862
Julian Gyu Kim gyuyeopkim@icloud.com 09617
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