Thank you for your accurate reporting of the alleged theft of University funds by staff employees in the office of business services. It is truly a sad situation, but is a story that must be brought to the attention of everyone involved with Penn State. This letter concerns the decision of the University not to discharge the accused employees and how that decision will affect the future.

For staff employees, administrators and staff assistants it does appear that there is a new policy. It may be that theft and the falsifying of documents will be looked at in another light and these offenses will no longer mean certain discharge from University employment. The policy of the future for those employees is not for me to determine.

As the principal officer of the Teamsters Local Union No. 8, however, I can comment on the future as it relates to our members, those employees who do the real work of cooking, cleaning and maintaining which keeps the University operating.

The Teamsters have represented the workers of Penn State for about 25 years. It has been fruitful for the workers to be Teamsters and it has been an honor for the Teamsters to be associated with the workers of Penn State. Over all of those years, there have been very few instances of a Teamster worker being involved in the theft of Penn State property. Yes, a bag of rags here, an empty oil can there and one time it involved some toilet paper.

There were other instances of a more serious nature too, but one thing was always certain; any worker guilty of stealing would face instant discharge from employment and no grievance would be filed by the Teamsters. With such an honest group of workers, this policy was understood and accepted.

This is to inform the University, the students and the community that the standards of the hard-working members of Teamsters Local Union No. 8 will not be lowered. We do not condone theft, and we expect those few who steal to lose their jobs. This policy may seem stern compared to that of other classes of University employees but at least the Teamster workers will be able to look everyone squarely in the eye.