AFSCME Council 13 condemns PASSHE Chancellor’s threatening words
During a Senate budget-appropriations hearing on Thursday, March 18, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Chancellor Daniel Greenstein 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.
AFSCME Council 13 Executive Director David Henderson issued the following statement:
“AFSCME Council 13 condemns Mr. Greenstein’s reckless words and we do not support his equally reckless consolidation plan. 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. The workers whose jobs are at risk maintain a level of quality that enhances life on campus for all who learn and work there, as well as for those in the surrounding communities. Our sisters and brothers at Lock Haven University just rallied against these layoff and outsourcing attempts, and more action can be expected, especially with such incendiary words from State System leadership.”