Oberlin College alumni send $158K in COVID relief to laid-off workers

OBERLIN — An alumni group has delivered $2,500 pandemic relief checks to Oberlin College workers who lost their jobs during mass layoffs over the summer, a move that outraged many. The 1833 Just Transition Fund collected $158,000 in donations from 480 graduates. Instead of giving to their alma mater, the group diverted the cash to help 57 former maintenance and custodial workers pay their rent or mortgage, buy food and cover medical expenses. "I just feel like taking someone's job away in the middle of the pandemic, in the name of the school I have a degree from, is incredibly troubling," said Les Leopold, a spokesman for the fund and a member of the college's class of 1969. "It just seems cruel." More than 100 workers were laid off in 2020 as part of cost-cutting measures at Oberlin College. About 800 students protested at the start of the year, before the COVID-19 crisis forced the college to move classes online. Leopold said the move also angered thousands of alumni, "a lot of them far angrier than I am." They saw the layoffs as an affront to Oberlin's long tradition of supporting working people and the downtrodden, he said. Many vowed never to financially back the institution again, which set off alarm bells in his mind. The 1883 Just Transition Fund wasn't designed to punish the college, Leopold said, but to help steer it back on course. "I think we're helping the college in the long run, frankly," he said. "My desire is not to harm Oberlin. My desire is to protect its reputation from harm. … It really got to me after a while, when I saw people saying they'd had it with Oberlin." Scott Wargo, director of media relations, said Oberlin College and Conservatory is taking "essential steps to build long-term excellence and gain financial sustainability while embracing its distinctive educational and academic mission," which have included "both strategic investments and shared sacrifices." He said the college negotiated in good faith with the United Auto Workers, which represented the employees, and reached a tentative agreement to keep custodial services in-house. The college was told the tentative agreement would be presented to members for consideration, Wargo said: "The UAW changed its position and declined to present the tentative agreement to membership, thereby depriving them of their ability to consider the proposal." That was in August, as college heads were preparing to begin a year upended by the COVID-19 crisis. To prepare for students' safe return, the college "moved forward with urgency and selected an Ohio-based subcontractor with an excellent national reputation." Only one former custodian completed the application process to work with the new vendor, said Wargo. The college extended health care coverage through June 2021 for those who didn't get coverage through another job, and provided severance, professional development benefits and job search support. The majority of the college's former campus dining employees are now employed by AVI, the new dining vendor, at similar rates of compensation, he said. The 1833 Fund alumni don't think the college took the right path. "It's hurtful to look back and see the college lay off its most vulnerable employees," said 2002 Oberlin graduate Cassandra Ogren, who now works with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington, D.C. "It goes against everything the college stands for." She said her research showed that outsourcing jobs that have traditionally supported families and replacing full-time workers with part-timers has become a disturbing trend in many industries. Janitorial and food service jobs were once careers. Now they're no longer viewed that way, Ogren said, because of outsourcing decisions like the ones at Oberlin College. Ogren said she and classmates started campaigning for economic and social justice at the college. Their time in Oberlin instilled values that she believes have now been betrayed. Replacing union workers with a private contractor that offers lower wages and benefits is troubling, said a statement from The 1833 Fund's board. "This union-busting activity is an enormous violation of the college's 'One Oberlin' theme of asking for equality of sacrifice from all its stakeholders during this difficult financial period," it said. The college has claimed employment changes would save about $2 million per year. Relief checks were delivered the week of Thanksgiving. The fund is now in the process or scheduling free online classes for laid-off workers, including Occupational Safety and Health Administration certifications, with the goal of assisting job search efforts. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.