Walgreens walkout: Your pharmacy might be closed next week

Employees at two of the largest drugstore chains in the United States say harsh working conditions make it difficult to safely fill prescriptions, which could put the health of their customers at risk. Now, they're demanding change by staging a series of walkouts across the country.

Pharmacy employees at some Walgreens stores, including pharmacists, technicians and support staff, are planning a walkout between October 9-11, an organizer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the chain, confirmed to CNN. Some employees plan to walk out for just one day, while others expect to shutter their pharmacies for all three days.

Employees at more than 500 of America's approximately 9,000 Walgreens stores across the United States have expressed interest and solidarity, a Walgreens pharmacy employee and walkout organizer said, though fewer will likely end up participating.

CNN spoke to employees at three Walgreens stores in three states who said they plan on walking out.

The planned action comes after pharmacy employees walked off the job at multiple CVS stores in the Kansas City area last week.

The coordinated action at some Walgreens stores is in response to what pharmacy employees call burdensome prescription and vaccination expectations levied on pharmacists from corporate management, according to the organizer. As a result, employees often find themselves falling behind and dealing with angry customers.

The company sets performance expectations based on the number of team members each pharmacy should have, said the pharmacy worker. However, in reality, staffing is much lower than that. At the same time, the worker said, they've cut training hours for new technicians.