[Imc-newsroom] OC ACTION AGAINST LAYOFFS P.R. (fwd)

[jyoti bhatt]

Here it is, re-sent.

Jyo


OBERLIN COLLEGE WORKERS AND STUDENTS TO BAND TOGETHER AGAINST LAYOFFS

>>Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002 at Noon (rally and start of picket line)
>>Oberlin College, Cox Administrative Building, 70 N. Professor St.,
Oberlin, OH, (440) 775-8400/8401

Contacts: *Jyoti /Jo/ Bhatt, jyoti.bhatt at oberlin.edu &/or (440) 774-3561,
home, and (440) 775-8285, ext. 223, work (only between 10PM-midnight)
*Socialist Alternative, socialist.alternative at oberlin.edu

The right of working people to keep their livelihoods at a historically
progressive school during troubled economic times is being tested once
again.  In the midst of a significant budget cuts and a dwindling
endowment, high College administrators have decided to scrap a total of
seventeen positions and vacancies.   Six of these positions belong(ed) to
members of the OCOPE union (Oberlin College Office and Professional
Employees).  Diane Lee, employee of Oberlin College for over 25 years and
current President of OCOPE, said Tuesday Oct. 29 ?We have absolutely no
input and (the administration) won?t discuss it with us ahead of time.?
Non-union Administrative Assistants (AA) and Administrative and
Professional Staff (A&PS) employees in departments such as student union
and health also face termination by Nov. 30th.

Such a decision will cause immense pain and financial hardship to the said
laid-off employees, some of whom have faithfully served Oberlin College for
over a decade.  Additionally, it will also cause the loss of retained
employees' healthcare plans and the "sharing" of staff between offices and
departments, spelling future difficulties for labor at Oberlin College.  OC
is one of the major employers in Oberlin and for residents of surrounding
towns in Lorain County, one of the poorest counties in Ohio.  Lay-offs here
are unjustified and unacceptable.

Among those against layoffs here, general consensus is that during a
recession or time of financial crisis, existing administrative or corporate
powers put forth excuses to enact hiring freezes, close ledger books, cut
services and hike tuition prices.  Meanwhile, as the world at large has
seen with Enron, those at the top pad their pockets.

At a time when the general student body, faculty, staff, and townspeople
are seriously questioning budgetary management by the administrative
powers? that be, President Nancy Dye has accepted a $40,000/year raise in
addition to a $1 million bonus to remain at Oberlin for the next ten years.
The decision to impart such funds to Dye was made by the Board of Trustees
and recently leaked out to campus press; it is just one example of
extravagant expenditures deemed unnecessary by the majority of those who
comprise this institution.

Join us in a show of force this Thursday at Noon in front of Cox
Administrative Building in an attempt to expose these current injustices,
demand that those laid-off be rehired, and hold accountable an institution
which is increasingly living on its radical history.

This rally will mark the beginning of a picket line staffed by students and
workers distributing informational leaflets and holding ground during Cox
business hours (8:30AM-4:30PM) until Nov. 30th, the expected date for the
finalization of layoffs.  If by Nov. 30th the layoffs are not reversed,
further action will be taken.




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