Y'know. There is an old joke that has a very attractive woman sitting at a bar being approached by a handsome and obviously well-heeled gentleman who remarks that she is the most beautiful woman in the world and asks if she would sleep with him for five million dollars. She is both astounded yet complimented that he would think she was worth that, and she agrees. Before she can get up, a drunk sitting beside her asks if she would sleep with him for ten dollars. She is offended and asks him what he thinks she is. He replies “I heard you talking to that rich guy. We have already established what you are, now we’re just negotiating.”It's interesting to hear people lament that pharmacists have never stood united; that they've never “gotten together” over issues important to their profession, and that there is no chance they ever will. I have to wonder if that is true.What would it take? Would it take a drop in wages? It is already happening...nothing yet.What if it happened in more places? Or what if the drop was 10%, or 20%, or 50%? How much would be enough?There will be a breaking point—there has to be. Eventually, pharmacists will have nowhere to turn. They will have to unify to defend their profession for how important it is.That value needs to translate in the income of the people in the profession, because that income helps define the quality of those people—where will the best and brightest go if, well, it just isn’t worth it?Going, going goneSo, since there is a breaking point, what are we waiting for? Why don’t pharmacists jump on it now and stabilize things? Because once things (like wages) are gone, they are really hard to get back.We know that owners are perfectly willing to undercut each other and undermine the integrity of what we do in the process. So they are not the people to look to. It's us— the pharmacists who provide the care on the front line—who need to step up.And more to the point, why aren’t we hearing more from those who "represent" us on how they are going to fight for our wages. Because, after all, don’t they represent pharmacists?And as for comments about pharmacists not being able to strike— why can’t we? We already know what we are, and we know what they are. The irony of the joke is that everyone has a price. Are we interested in giving it away, or are we going to start to talk about holding out for what we are really worth?Maybe we should start negotiating...
