Ohio University Custodians Fight to Restore Jobs

October 24, 2007

Ohio University employees Cherry Dixon, John Dillon and Scott Ramage (wearing cap) – all members of AFSCME Local 1699 (Council 8) – hand out flyers calling for reinstatement of 24 former custodial and maintenance employees who lost their jobs in a budget cutback.

Photo Credit: Joe Weidner

Support is growing to reinstate 24 former custodial and maintenance employees of Ohio University whose jobs were eliminated this summer in a budget cutback.

Members of AFSCME Local 1699 (Council 8) thought they had achieved job security when their three-year contract was ratified in February. But they didn’t expect university officials to balance a $537,000 shortfall in the facilities management budget on the backs of the 17 custodial and seven “zone-maintenance” employees, who work on the main campus in Athens.

“The administration completely pulled the rug out from under us,” Dave Logan, president of Local 1699, told a local newspaper. Listen to Logan discuss the layoffs in this video clip.

Since Council 8 members began picketing in early September, the plight of the laid-off workers has won the sympathy of growing segments of the community. Members of the Ohio University College Democrats voted to stand with Local 1699. Also backing them: Students for a Democratic Society, faculty members and Democratic City Councilman Paul Wiehl, who is running for mayor.

University officials contend they needed to save money to fund higher-priority positions. But Logan points out that the health and safety of students and teachers could be threatened by the cutbacks.

Read more about why these custodial and maintenance workers should be reinstated.