PROFESSIONAL Pharmacists Australia (PPA) has ramped up a campaign negotiating on behalf of pharmacists and technicians working for Epic Pharmacy, this week publicly urging the company's staff to join the union group as it engages in negotiations to improve pay and conditions at the hospital pharmacy provider.
The saga kicked off earlier this year when a majority of Epic staff completed a union survey and "left Epic management with no choice but to bargain with PPA for a new enterprise agreement" rather than operating under individual contracts.
Pharmacists working at Epic sites in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Hervey Bay and the Sunshine Coast have been involved in the process, which has seen five meetings with Epic management over the last few months resulting in a new draft agreement, a draft pharmacists and technicians classifications structure and "a comprehensive log of claims based on member feedback".
However the union group says the company's management had failed to acknowledge the seriousness of the negotiation process, causing delays to the process while pharmacist wages remain stagnant.
According to posts on the PPA website this week, an offer from the company involves reducing paid maternity leave, cutting long service leave to the legal minimum, as well as reductions to training and development pay, study leave, penalty rates and qualifications allowances.
"Epic want to cut wages and conditions to the bare minimum," PPA said, claiming the hospital pharmacy provider "cannot ignore your claims if the majority of staff are members of your union".
The Epic battle follows a stand-off with ACT Health over hospital pharmacy conditions earlier this year, which resulted in a comprehensive victory for Professional Pharmacists Australia on behalf of its members (PD 25 Oct) leading to a new classification structure and "at-risk bonuses".
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