Oversupply real – APESMA
September 7, 2010
PHARMACY union group
APESMA says it’s been receiving a
“steady stream of calls and emails
from employee pharmacists” who
are concerned about owners
making offers of reduced wages.
Senior APESMA Industrial Officer,
Jacki Baulch, has endorsed
comments attributed to NSW Guild
President Si Banks, who was quoted
as saying that “leading figures
within the profession have been
burying their heads in the sand” on
the issue of an oversupply of
pharmacists.
The oversupply has resulted in a
windfall for employers, especially
those employing new graduates,
according to APESMA.
Baulch said the Association
would be investigating a number of
complaints from members “that
some employers are breaching the
Award by offering terms of
employment below the legal
minimum,” contrasting rates of $35
per hour ten years ago with current
market figures in suburban
pharmacies of around $26.
The Pharmacists Division of
APESMA says it’s also concened
about the increasing numbers of
pharmacy schools around
Australia “and the shortage of
suitable academic staff to service
their courses.
“The oversupply of pharmacists
might be a short term gain for
pharmacy employers, but why
spend five years studying for a
career, running up a HECS debt
and getting paid similar rates to
retail workers,” Baulch said.
She said that situation was likely
to see prospective students shy
away from pharmacy “and the
profession will be the poorer for it.”
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