After a months-long struggle with the Express Scripts, Inc., SEIU workers with assistance from SEIU, Missouri Jobs with Justice, the Saint Louis Area Workers’ Rights Board and other activists have forced ESI to reverse their decision to shutter all Bensalem, PA operations— saving 400 union jobs and providing a substantial severance package to 500 workers facing layoff at another plant in the city. 

“This settlement will keep hundreds of good jobs here in Bensalem, and make sure anyone who gets laid off will be able to provide for their families in this harsh economy,” said Linda Chan, a Pharmacy Tech at the Marshall Lane facility, and a member of the SEIU Healthcare bargaining committee. Express Scripts, Inc has been an extremely profitable company and is the 2nd biggest pharmacy benefits manager in the country.

SEIU members had been engaging in a national campaign to put pressure on ESI to maintain quality jobs in Bensalem when the company announced it would close both the Marshall Lane and Street Road Bensalem facilities following the workers’ overwhelming rejection of the company’s “last, best, final” offer.  In August, 50 ESI workers from Bensalem, Pennsylvania- facing severe pay and benefits cuts- drove to ESI headquarters in St. Louis to meet CEO George Paz face-to-face and protest the cuts, meeting with members of the Saint Louis Workers’ Rights Board while they were here.

In November, three ESI workers were suspended for reaching out to ESI clients about the terrible way ESI was being managed, and SEIU workers contacted St. Louis Area Jobs with Justice’s Workers’ Rights Board again.  The Workers’ Rights Board agreed to hold an Investigative Hearing on ESI’s worker abuse. An invitation was sent to Express Scripts CEO George Paz, and workers from Pennsylvania were set to fly into St. Louis and other ESI workers from Harrisburg, PA and St. Louis were set to testify by phone.  Instead of agreeing to come to the hearing, Paz decided to reopen negotiations- and a settlement was reached in the late hours- the day before the Investigative Hearing was to take place. Paz also agreed to reinstate the three suspended workers.

“This has been a very difficult challenge… by sticking together we saved 400 good jobs for this community and won an excellent severance package for laid off workers that most non-union workers could only dream about,” said Rickie Stemley, a Pharmacy Tech at the Marshall Lane facility.

 Learn more at the SEIU website.
 Read more by the St. Louis Business Journal.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Announcements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.