They usually don't all agree on any number of topics, but politicians including Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Representatives Louise Slaughter and Dan Maffei, Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and Rochester Mayor Tom Richards do agree on one thing: They feel that Rochester and Bausch and Lomb are getting a raw deal from B + L's new parent company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
That Canadian company recently told employees that a total of 10 to 15 percent of its workforce will be cut, and Bausch + Lomb's U.S. headquarters will be moving from Rochester to New Jersey. Manufacturing and research and development jobs will stay in Rochester but an unspecified number of corporate jobs will be lost.
The various politicians have released a letter they sent to Valeant's CEO Michael Pearson to express outrage with the recent announcement. They urged him to reconsider, and demanded concrete assurances regarding the future of the manufacturing jobs in Rochester, saying that so far, Valeant has not made a long term commitment to keep those jobs here.
The local officials say that Valeant will come to regret the decision to move the headquarters, saying that the company is leaving behind a highly-educated and loyal workforce.
