Walgreens (WBA) and CVS Health (CVS) workers are the newest batch of health care workers to threaten strikes against employers. Yahoo Finance Health Reporter Anjalee Khemlani details the demands in these strikes amid the rising trend in health care industry strikes.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video Transcript

- Well, 2023 has brought with it a surge in labor activism not seen in the US in years. From Hollywood to Detroit, workers are walking off in pursuit of better benefits and protections. And health care workers are no exception. So far, in 2023, there have been 22 strikes across the US.

Joining us now with a deeper dive on this is Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani. Anjalee, I know you've been following a lot of this action for us. What's the latest?

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: That's a right, Rachelle. And we know that CVS and Walgreens are facing a three-day walkout from their employees starting today. And that is going to really put pressure on what has become a very important part of the health care story. Going back to those 22, they've largely been within the hospital space, nurses in particular, demanding better hours, a better pay, and better safety requirements in the work space. They've definitely dealt with a lot in part because of the pandemic and in the subsequent years.

And so what we're looking at is really along the coast, largely larger systems have been subject to these strikes. That includes New York and California. Kaiser, of course, we logged as the largest in history with 75,000 workers walking off the scene, and that ended in early October, so earlier this month. Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders held a field hearing for the Senate Health Committee in New Jersey last week targeting RWJ Barnabas health. That CEO did say in his message to the committee that he respects what has been going on, but they're still in progress, they're making progress with negotiations.

So this is really a story of post-pandemic when we saw the health care workers really audit and lauded for their work now facing the crunch of that. The pharmacy one, in particular, is a little bit different because we've seen that increase in interest in immunizations. More respiratory virus immunizations on the market now than ever before. RSV, for one, including flu and flu and including COVID 19, really adding to the level of work that these workers have.

So they're demanding better pay, more staffing. And better pay for the technicians that do help out these pharmacists. So across the board, really coming to terms with how dependent we are and what level of dependency we have on these workers within the health system.

- And certainly bring you that to focus. Anjalee Khemlani, thanks so much for that.