A Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) panel last week (November 20) decided in favour of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) by agreeing that only pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists should be included in the “bargaining unit”, the group of employees forming part of discussions about PDA Union (PDAU) representation.

This bargaining unit proposed by the PDAU had been opposed by Lloydspharmacy. In its written submission to the CAC – the remit of which includes disputes related to the statutory recognition of trade unions – the multiple argued that: “If recognised, the union’s bargaining unit would render management of the pharmacies ineffective and distorted and the business could not be expected to run itself based solely on the pharmacists.”

“The employer believed that the starting point should be how the union’s proposed bargaining unit, restricted solely to pharmacists, could be compatible with the effective management of the employer’s 1,500 stores bearing in mind that the stores employed 14,102 people but only 2,602 of these were pharmacists,” the CAC added.

In its summary of Lloydspharmacy’s written submission to the panel, CAC said the multiple considered that “clearly, the union had not given any consideration to effective management in putting together the proposed bargaining unit" because its case focussed solely on pharmacists and not the entire Lloyds workforce.

However, the CAC panel said in its decision: “The panel does not accept that the union’s proposed bargaining unit would make effective management more difficult because it may have to engage in different conversations over pay in respect of the one pay budget. There are many industries where this is the norm and the separate negotiations over pay are effectively managed.”

Lloydspharmacy’s parent company McKesson UK declined to comment when approached by C+D.

“Rather reach a voluntary agreement”

The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) ruling is a “step closer” to Lloyds pharmacists gaining PDAU representation, the PDA said in a statement last week (November 20).

Union recognition would give the PDAU the legal right to negotiate on behalf of pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists at Lloydspharmacy on issues such as pay, hours, holiday and health and safety.

The PDAU formally applied to the CAC in July to act on behalf of pharmacists at Lloydspharmacy, after an initial letter to the multiple in February and a series of discussions between the company and the union about the possibility of recognition. 

The CAC decision last week impacts the possible next step in the negotiation process. If no voluntary agreement is reached between the PDAU and Lloydspharmacy, the matter could move to a secret postal ballot in which the bargaining unit – now confirmed as restricted to pharmacists and pre-regs – vote on whether they wish to be represented by the PDAU.

To win the ballot, the PDAU would need a majority of those voting to be in favour of union recognition and for this group to represent at least 40% of everyone eligible to vote. The CAC’s decision reduces the number of votes the union needs to win such a ballot from about 5,500 to around 1,050 votes, PDA director Paul Day told C+D earlier this week (24 Nov).

At any point in this process, a voluntary agreement could be agreedbetween the multiple and the union, thus stopping a ballot. “We have all the way through said we  would much rather reach a voluntary agreement, it’s better for everyone,” Mr Day told C+D. 

The CAC decision comes after the PDAU last year secured the right to represent Boots pharmacists after they voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of being represented by the union in March last year, following a long-running dispute between Boots and the PDAU.