Penn State’s plan to partner with a private developer on a new campus housing project is drawing criticism and concern from the union representing 2,500 technical service employees at the university.
Teamsters Local 8 says it has filed a grievance over the project, which it anticipates will use non-union workers for housing and food services jobs typically filled by union members at campus-owned residence halls.
In a letter sent to university trustees and the office of Gov. Josh Shapiro this, Teamsters Local 8 President Jonathan Light wrote that “clearly this action was taken to denude the bargaining unit.”
“Our members have taken care of all housing dormitories at Penn State since 1968 and before this when the employees were not organized,” Light wrote. “This has always been Penn State work, Union work! We have done this generation after generation.”
Penn State’s Board of Trustees voted on Nov. 8 to approve entering a long-term ground lease with South Carolina-based developer Greystar Inc., which will build and operate the 1,505-bed complex on university-owned land near the corner of University Drive and East College Avenue. Penn State will continue to own the land, while Greystar will pay ground rent and own the buildings.
The project, which is intended to house non-first-year students, aims to accommodate planned undergraduate enrollment growth at the University Park campus as Penn State works to “leverage” demand for attendance at the flagship campus as part of its “road map” for the university’s future.
“This housing development, like countless others in our community, will not be owned or operated by Penn State,” university spokesperson Wyatt DuBois wrote in an email to StateCollege.com. “We value the contributions made by our technical service employees and this ground lease does not impact them.”
No one from the Penn State administration reached out to the union to discuss jobs at the new housing complex, Light wrote. He accused university leaders of putting business ahead of Penn State’s core values.
“This University does not just produce well-educated students, but it produces a generational opportunity for jobs in this community,” Light wrote. “We provide a safe, enhanced environment for the students to achieve great academic success…Our jobs are very important to the success of this University. We do not ask nor look for accolades but look toward a secure future with well-paying jobs.
“Support this community with continued good paying and secure jobs… [and] provide our students with the best experience while they attend this University. Protect them with people they can trust, this is what students and parents come to expect when they send their children to Penn State, not some outside contractor that Penn State can’t control who they hire.”
Teamsters Local 8 and Penn State agreed to a new four-year contract this past summer after negotiations that lasted until just days before the previous contract expired.
Greystar is expected to complete about 775 beds for the new housing complex by the fall of 2027 and another 730 by the fall of 2028.
