2007-04-26 19:17:20 -

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former Budget Maintenance employee Jorge Nunez, with support from staff members of SEIU 32BJ, attended a Johnson & Johnson annual meeting in New Brunswick, NJ Thursday to draw attention to the struggle of Budget Maintenance employees who clean Centocor offices in the Philadelphia suburbs. Centocor is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020918/SEIULOGO )

Jorge Nunez, who worked for Budget Maintenance at the Centocor building in Wayne, Pennsylvania, left his job because it did not pay enough to support him and his family.

Budget Maintenance also failed to provide Nunez insurance to help pay for medicine. Nunez suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that can be treated with Remicade, a medication Centocor manufactures.

"When I worked for Budget Maintenance, it did not offer the same wages or benefits as cleaning companies in Philadelphia. In fact, it did not provide any health insurance benefit," said Nunez. "This was very hard for me because along with supporting my family, I have lots of medical bills. It's ironic, because Centocor makes billions of dollars from selling Remicade, a medicine that helps people with rheumatoid arthritis."

Nunez, referencing Johnson & Johnson's stated commitment to the community, posed the following question to company management: "Are you willing to provide drugs at reasonable cost, and make sure the workers who keep your offices clean are provided decent wages and health insurance?"

In his support, 32BJ staff members handed out leaflets, highlighting the controversy around Centocor's alleged deceptive marketing practices and their potential cost to the taxpayer and the public at large. The Service Employees International Union benefit fund is a shareholder of Johnson & Johnson.

In a class action lawsuit filed by the federal government, many state and local governments, and employee health plans, Centocor and its parent company Johnson & Johnson have been accused of engaging in deceptive drug pricing. Johnson & Johnson has admitted that Centocor's main product, Remicade, has been listed for reimbursement at prices as much as 30% higher than the drug's cost to the physicians who administer it. This gives physicians the potential to profit from administering the drug and could artificially raise the cost of the drugs to patients and insurance providers.

"Skyrocketing health care costs threatens the well being of our members, our communities and our country," said Wayne MacManiman, SEIU Local 32BJ Philadelphia District Chair. "The practices alleged in this lawsuit against Centocor drive up health care costs, making quality health care unaffordable to working families and people everywhere."

More information about Centocor is available at http://www.centocorwatch.org/ a website set up by Local 32BJ to inform investors and consumers about company issues.

With 85,000 members in six states, SEIU Local 32BJ is the largest property service workers union in the country.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020918/SEIULOGO
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Source: Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ