Lock Haven workers rally to save jobs, Council 13 responds to PASSHE Chancellor’s threat
As the workers of Lock Haven University were preparing to rally to save their jobs, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Chancellor Dan Greenstein on Thursday, March 18, said, “Unless we figure this out, I will be recommending to the board that we come back to the Senate next year with a legislative package to dissolve the system.”
“Figuring this out,” to Greenstein, means ramming through a consolidation plan that threatens the jobs of university faculty and staff alike, putting some of the lower paid jobs in the system on the chopping block first.
That includes the jobs of custodians, groundskeepers, clerical staff, and food service workers, at the Universities of Lock Haven, Bloomsburg, Mansfield, California, Clarion, and Edinboro, with more likely to come.
The members of AFSCME Local 2360 rallied in downtown Lock Haven on Saturday, March 20, to voice their opposition to these job cuts as custodians and groundskeepers on their campus face potential layoffs and outsourcing. Their union sisters and brothers and members of the community came out in full force to show their support, and a clear message was sent that this fight is not over, especially with such incendiary words coming from PASSHE leadership.
AFSCME Local 2360 rallies with their union sisters and brothers to stop layoffs and outsourcing attempts at Lock Haven University.
“AFSCME Council 13 condemns Mr. Greenstein’s reckless words and we do not support his equally reckless consolidation plan,” Council 13 Executive Director David Henderson said.
“The chancellor’s choice of words about dissolving the State System reveal the draconian measures that he is willing to take to force this plan through – a plan that fails to heed the input of the system’s dedicated workforce while threatening their very livelihoods.”
Council 13 is proud to stand with the workers who keep Pennsylvania’s universities running and will continue to do so.
See below for more photos from the March 20 Lock Haven rally:
