The PDA Union and Boots UK agree a pay settlement for store-based pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists.

The PDAU says it has secured pay increases and improved terms for pharmacists working at Boots from November 1.

By Richard Thomas, Editor, Pharmacy Magazine The overwhelming vote by Boots pharmacists to recognise the PDA Union after a bitter dispute lasting nearly eight years could have implications not only at the UK’s biggest pharmacy chain but also sector-wide. It was a crushing defeat for senior managers at Boots, who badly misjudged their response from the very start, and a stunning victory for the PDA.

Pharmacy Magazine caught up with PDAU national officer Paul Day to discuss the PDAU's negotiating ambitions

Out of 6,843 pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists who were eligible to vote, 3,229 voted for PDA recognition

The PDAU drew comparisons to an existing arrangement between Boots Ireland and a trade union regarding support staff

Boots pharmacists and pre-reg pharmacists now have five weeks to have their final say on this long-running issue

Both the PDAU and Boots have been lobbying the 7,000-strong bargaining unit in the run up to the postal vote

The second ballot on Boots pharmacists' future representation will run from Monday February 4 2019 for five weeks

Boots pharmacists in field and support office roles will not be eligible to vote on whether to have the PDA Union as their representative union, the Central Arbitration Committee has ruled

The voting period in the Boots union vote has been extended amid concerns about the quality of supplied address data

As of Thursday 10 May, around 7,000 pharmacists employed by Boots can begin voting on their future union representation

The PDAU says it hopes the gesture will encourage Boots pharmacists to take part in the forthcoming ballot on whether to de-recognise the BPA