PDA Union alternative proposed by Boots

Boots UK has pledged to launch a Joint Negotiation Committee to represent Boots pharmacists as an alternative to the Pharmacist Defence Association Union. The new committee is for staff to turn to ahead of a ballot to decide on a representative body for its pharmacists. The PDA Union has said the proposals are misleading and contain serious flaws, and an organisation could not be “joint” with itself. It believes this term could only be used when two separate legal entities are involved, and warns that, in contrast to itself, Boots was proposing an entirely unregulated arrangement giving unhappy pharmacists nowhere to turn.
Mark Pitt, assistant general secretary of the PDA Union, said: “Ironically, the proposal shows that because of our application for recognition the management have finally admitted that they are prepared to commit significant resources to engage with the voice of pharmacists and could commit to be more flexible and quick-acting if they wanted. We have constantly questioned why senior management spend so much time and effort on fighting against their own employees and, once this ballot concludes, we hope they will finally redirect that effort into working with us to improve working conditions for pharmacists. 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.”
Andrew Caplan, pharmacy and retail operations director at Boots UK, said: “Pharmacy is, and remains at the heart of Boots. The formation of the JNC with a ‘no’ vote will give all pharmacists a bigger voice shaping and driving this future, not just those who are members of a union. We believe that having a direct relationship with our pharmacists is better for patients and our pharmacists. This is what the Boots JNC would offer, if we are given the opportunity to launch it.”