Lloyds Pharmacies to face further disruption

A dispute at Lloyds Pharmacy will escalate further this week with 240 workers in almost 40 stores due to participate in industrial action in a row concerning pay, zero-hour contracts and annual leave entitlements.

This Friday will see the fourth instance of strike action in this dispute and the first full-day stoppage.

Trade union Mandate, representing the workers, has scheduled two more full days of strike action on Thursday, July 12th and Friday, July 20th, should the company not enter negotiations.

"The strike takes place as the company continues to refuse to implement a Labour Court recommendation which stated that the company should allow their workers trade union representation," Mandate said in a statement.

UDG buys US firms Create NYC and SmartAnalyst for €71m

---

Pharma body calls for more State funding on medicines

---

Novartis hands investors Alcon spin-off and $5bn share buyback

---

Entrepreneur aims to build Europe’s leading biotech oncology company

---

Dispute

“This action comes as Mandate trade union escalates the dispute but continues to call for the company to engage in meaningful negotiations in order to prevent any disruption to the company, their workers and the public who depend on Lloyds Pharmacy for their medications,” the statement added.

As well as striking over pay, the workers are seeking the introduction of a sick-pay scheme, security of hours and improvements in annual leave.

Mandate's David Gibney last week said strike action would continue until the pharmacy chain sits down with the union. He claimed workers in Lloyds are paid on average 30 per cent less than their colleagues in Boots.

Lloyds is one of the Republic’s largest pharmacy chains with 88 outlets across the country.

It is controlled by McKesson Europe – formerly Celesio AG – which also operates the Lloyds brand in the UK and is ultimately controlled by US-based Fortune 500 company McKesson Corporation.