OBERLIN, Ohio — Some students at Oberlin College are upset over a proposed plan to layoff more than 100 of the school's union workers.
They're expected to protest with those workers outside a faculty meeting at the school Wednesday.
Oberlin College's president, Carmen T. Ambar, sent a letter to students and alumni. In that letter obtained by news 5, she said the college is considering contracting with outside workers for dining and custodial staff.
The cuts would affect around 52 full-time dining employees and 56 full-time custodial employees, according to the letter.
Some students are upset because they say the school did not ask for input from them or union staffers.
They say the proposed layoffs threaten union labor on campus by replacing them with contracted workers.
If approved, the transition would happen this summer.
The letter says it could save the college up to $2 million a year, and the move is critical for the long-term financial health of the college.
Oberlin's president says the school has faced "unprecedented financial and demographic challenges,” including an "unsustainable structural deficit."
The school has already made changes to its healthcare and retirement benefits and the size of its administrative staff to address that issue.
The proposed layoffs are the next step.
Oberlin's president says the college will begin collective bargaining with the union in the coming weeks to figure out how best to move forward. She also hopes many of the union workers will be able to interview for jobs with the newly selected vendors.
The protest is scheduled to happen at King Hall, 10 N. Professor St., Oberlin, around 11:45 a.m.
