Great job keeping us so profitable. Now we have to let you go.
By Richard Negri

Let's say you spent years helping to build up an enormously profitable company. Then you find out you're being sacked two weeks before Christmas because the company wants to increase their profit margins even more. How would it make you feel? Don't answer, I think I know...

Express Scripts (ESI) is the nation's second-largest pharmacy benefits manager. Recently it announced plans to close one of its two Bensalem, PA, facilities on December 16th--eliminating 350 good union jobs. To add insult to injury, Express Scripts is now threatening closure of the second facility and cutting another 650 jobs.

Send an email to George Paz, CEO of Express Scripts, urging him not to eliminate more good jobs when workers need them the most.

Mega companies, like Express Scripts, trying to break the backs of union workers is not breaking news. It happens every day. However, in the last year or so, various companies have put a new twist on it, claiming they need to get concessions or cut workers because of the recession. Sometimes that is accurate, but not in this case. For Express Scripts, it's all about greed.
Some facts about ESI to consider:

    * Profits: Last year ESI posted earnings of $1.7 billion, a 23 percent increase from the year before. So far in 2010, ESI has recorded more than $857 million in profits.
    * Contracts: ESI has contracts with many state and federal government agencies, including a $2.8 billion deal with the U.S. Department of Defense to fill prescriptions for military families.
    * Executive compensation: In 2009, Express Scripts' management top five executives earned a combined compensation in excess of $21 million, including $10.6 million for CEO George Paz alone.
    * Union-busting: Express Scripts told the union that it needed $8.8 million dollars in concessions for it to maintain its profitability. The union agreed to a package valued at $8 million, but George Paz and Co. said that just isn't enough.
    * Total worth: The company is currently worth about $26.5 billion.

One more fact to chew on...
December 16th, the date union workers have been told they're going to be fired, is one day after their current collective bargaining agreement expires.

This is mere classic union busting, disgusting.

Closing the Bensalem, PA facilities is a move that could put patients' lives at risk. It's unclear whether the company's other facilities around the country are not equipped or staffed to handle the workload that the Bensalem plants currently handle.

The top priority of most workers in the healthcare field is to always put their patients first, and ESI employees of Bensalem, Pa., are no different. While they're fighting to keep their jobs, they're also fighting for the patients' continued well-being. "Everyday we work hard to keep our patients healthy. But ESI wants to eliminate my job and put patient care at risk just to boost profits. We need to keep good jobs here in Pennsylvania," said Pam Rogers, a long-time employee at ESI.