Posted on 12/02/2010 12:30:29 PM PST by Lancey Howard
Pharmaceutical distributor Express Scripts, unable to reach an agreement with union officials, is closing two plants in Bensalem.
At Express Scripts, the other shoe dropped Wednesday.
Citing an impasse at the bargaining table, Express Scripts announced that, on Feb. 1, it will close its Street Road plant, the larger of its two Bensalem facilities.
The news came less than two months after the St. Louis-based pharmaceutical distribution company disclosed its plan to shutter the smaller one - located on Marshall Lane - on Dec. 16.
Together, Express Scripts employs 1,000 people in Bensalem - 575 at Street Road and 425 at Marshall Lane. By February, the number could be zero.
(snip)
Two months ago, Express Scripts announced it was closing the Marshall Lane dispensing pharmacy. The company had extra capacity at other locations and those sites had newer, more-advanced equipment that would improve efficiency, a spokesman said.
The spokesman - Thom Gross - denied that stalled contract negotiations with the SEIU were to blame for the Marshall Lane decision but warned that if talks failed, the Street Road facility could join Marshall Lane.
(Excerpt) Read more at phillyburbs.com ...
How fitting. The perfect “going away” gift from our soon to be departed TURD of a Congressman Patrick Murphy. This A-HOLE was constantly credited with creating jobs by our leftist newspaper. They had him stand with business’s creating 5 to 25 jobs. He was given credit for helping create green jobs. All the time he was taking money hand over fist from local unions. Too bad for the good folks trapped in the SEIU. Good riddance “Soldier for Bucks County”. Go away and stay away. You have done enough damage to the area.
I’ve talked to people in Michigan who gladly would have taken a pay cut or given back some benefits to keep working and get their company thru the recession. But they all tell the same story. “These unions have just gotten people too stiff-necked. They’d rather see half of us laid off than to give back a dime.”
The first rule in business is “Everything starts and ends with the customer”. The first rule for unions is “Dues check offs and everyone in the plant pays”.
The union believes (and gets the employees to believe) that because the the company turns on the lights there is money. The company does not give the employees jobs, the customers do. Every company fights the following phrase: “We are just like or our products are just like xxxx (insert name of your company here) but we are cheaper.” The union never cares about keeping the business strong. This is one of the reasons they oppose the privatization of social security. What happens when their employees begin to care about the health of companies, and less about the union?
Knowing a bunch of SEIU clowns are out there fending for themselves in Hussein’s disastrous economy warms the cackles of my heart.
Mike
AMEN!!! I’m in the pharmacy business and ALL companies are cutting everything to the bone. Period. Unions costing too much - bye we’ll go where costs are more manageable.
The PBM business (Pharmacy Benefits Management) is exactly as you said “Here’s what we offer your company and here’s how we are less expensive and still take care of your employees - etc.” Your PBM is usually sub-contracted by the main insurance provider. It’s cut-throat to acquire and keep accounts. That’s why your Nexium may not be covered but the generic of a different similar drug is - brand names are just too expensive.
Besides the cost of drugs, people are the most manageable cost variable. The union only gave Express RX a valid excuse and cover to make a good business decision.
Has any group of union folks ever decided to collectively kick the union out of their workplace? Or is it set up in such a way that once in, they can never go back?
‘Company officials, however, said the Street Road plant was an anomaly among Express Scripts sites.
“The wages and benefits we provide our employees are competitive and compare favorably with what similar workers make in their geographical area,” said a company statement. “However, labor costs at our prescription-processing facility in Bensalem were the highest in our system by a significant margin.”
Their demands were to bring the facility in line with the others.
So when the union voted down the company’s last offer just before Thanksgiving, Express Scripts was forced to move forward with the closure, Zarin said.
“We spent eight months at the table and met 40 times,” he said. “It was an exhaustive effort. This is very, very unfortunate for the families of the workers.”
As an example, union officials said their members were willing to accept $2 per hour pay cuts for pharmacists and a two-year pay freeze. *****But they said they refused to let the company switch their health care coverage to an inferior plan and wanted job protections they did not get.*****’
Well well well - it boiled done to a healthcare swap. How does it feel to be in the same position as the rest of us?
feeling sorry for the families of union thugs who lived well on the moiney their thug spouse got is like feeling sorry for the wife of a mafia don or the mother of a suicide bomber who gets $25k from so-called, made-up pali bastards.
F the SEIU.
Express Scripts handles Tricare for Life RX’s..retired Military over 65 secondary ins.
I WORK PART TIME AT ESI ON THE WEEKENDS THE UNION TOLD EMPLOYEES TO VOTE DOWN EVERYTHING THEY COULD DO BETTER THE LAST PACKAGE INCLUDED 8500 PLUS 5MONTHS HEALTHCARE OR 5000 THEN 1WEEK PAY FOR EVERY YEAR WORKED. AND THINGS TO KEEP THE OTHER BULIDING OPEN FOR 2 MORE YEARS UNION TOLD THEM WE CAN GET 20000 VOTE NO AND THEY DID EMPLOYEES COULDNT THINK FOR THEMSLEVES AND UNION HAD THEM CONVINCED COMPANY WOULDNT CLOSE THEY WERE BLUFFING SO IM GLAD I AM ONLY PART TIME OR I WOULD GO AFTER THE UNION I AM CONSERDING SENDING MY BILLS TO THE UNION WHEN I GET LAID OFF TO BE PAID SINCE I VOTED YES FOR MY MONEY AND THEY FORCED A NO VOTE
I WORK AT ESI PART TIME AND PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE DESERVE WHAT THEY GET EVERY VOTE THEY TOOK TO SAVE THERE JOB THEY TURNED IT DOWN BECAUSE UNION OFFICALS TOLD THEM TO THE LAST OFFER INCLUDED A GREAT SEVERANCE FOR BENSALEM WORKERS 8500 AND 5 MONTHS BENEFITS AND 1WEEK PAY FOR EVERY YEAR UNION TOLD THEM TO VOTE NO WE CAN GET 20000 PLUS BENEFITS ALSO IN THE OFFER WERE THINGS TO KEEP THE OTHER BULDING OPEN FOR 2 MORE YEARS UNION WAS BEING GREEDY AND MOST OF THE WORKERS DO NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOEING ON AND JUST DOES WHAT THE UNION TELLS THEM TO
Union bosses are watching out for their own skins, not the ‘peons’ welfare.
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