Farmacias Ahumada Professionals Union Alleges Serious Irregularities Under LarraínVial-Led Chilean Ownership

Following Walgreens Boots Alliance’s sale of Farmacias Ahumada, the Farmacias Ahumada Professionals Union (Sinprofasa), which represents more than 95% of the company’s pharmacists, alleges that the new Chilean owners—led by investors associated with LarraínVial—have overseen a surge in payroll errors, labor disputes, and complaints filed with the Labor Directorate.

According to the organization, headed by its president Viviana Castañeda, the LarraínVial-led administration—which includes businessmen Guillermo Harding and Gabriel Ruiz-Tagle—has deteriorated labor relations and created serious issues with salary payments.

«When the new owners took control, we were told the previous administration had made mistakes in human resources. However, over these two years we’ve seen a considerable increase in failures and complaints from professionals,» Castañeda said.

Among the main issues, the union points to severe errors in the payment system: «Wages have been paid below what is owed, forcing workers to file claims and practically beg to receive the outstanding amounts. In other cases, overpayments have been made, leading to repayment agreements. Situations that used to be exceptional have now become recurring,» the union leader added.

On top of that are mistakes in pension contribution payments, failure to apply CPI-linked adjustments, and multiple other problems directly affecting pharmacists and other Farmacias Ahumada workers.

In that vein, Castañeda stressed that, while there were differences under Walgreens’ management, there had never been so many conflicts.

«Today we are facing complaints before the Labor Directorate for breaches of the collective agreement, the unilateral modification of bonuses, violations of the Karin Law, and the improper use of security cameras against professionals, instead of using them to protect the integrity and safety of the pharmacies,» the union representative said.

The union represents more than 95% of Farmacias Ahumada’s pharmacists and covers over 90% of the company’s locations nationwide. It is worth noting that Chile’s Health Code requires pharmacies to operate with one of these professionals present during all opening hours.

El Ciudadano