After 4 weeks of silence, Alliance Boots has confirmed in a letter received on 23rd May 2011, that it has rejected the wishes of many of its pharmacist employees who requested a group grievance to be conducted by their Union, on their behalf.
After 4 weeks of silence, Alliance Boots has confirmed in a letter received on 23rd May 2011, that it has rejected the wishes of many of its pharmacist employees who requested a group grievance to be conducted by the PDA Union, on their behalf, and instead is insisting that pharmacists attend individual grievance meetings about the pay cuts.
Whilst this development is not a total surprise and indicative of a “divide and conquer” tactic, it does raise the question, why are Alliance Boots unwilling to follow an approach recommended by ACAS for such issues? Holding so many individual time consuming meetings on a single issue will only serve to divert company managers and pharmacists from delivering the legendary customer service the Company claims is paramount in its ambitions and the primary reason behind the pay cuts.
However in anticipation of this approach the PDA Union will be making available accredited PDA Union representatives to support and attend meetings with members, who are strongly advised to raise a grievance in order to increase their chances of resisting the pay cuts.
If you are an Alliance Boots pharmacist and will be affected by the cuts to premium pay it is important that you act now following this latest development if you wish to retain your premium pay.