News

March 17, 2010

Workers protest to save their jobs

Sallie Mae employees oppose change in lending

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
Andrew M. Seder on Facebook   |   @TLAndrewSeder on Twitter

SCRANTON – More than 350 employees of the Sallie Mae office in Hanover Township, all being paid, went on the road Tuesday to protest a proposed change in student lending the company says could cost thousands of jobs.

With a congressional vote near, the employees went to Scranton and Clarks Summit to meet with staffers in the offices of U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter, D-Philadelphia, and Bob Casey, D-Scranton, and U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, D-Dimock Township.

Wearing blue shirts with “Protect Pennsylvania Jobs” across the front, they loudly chanted “save our jobs” and cheered when motorists honked their horns in support.

At issue is the federal subsidy to private, for-profit lenders like Sallie Mae to make loans to college students that the government itself can make directly. Eliminating the subsidy is expected to save between $47 billion and $87 billion over the next 10 years, according to figures used by The White House and the Department of Education. President Barack Obama has proposed using the savings to expand direct grants to needy students.

“We brought out what we felt was a representation of the jobs that might be lost here,” said Troy Standish, senior vice president of servicing operations at Sallie Mae’s local site, which employs 1,100. He said not only is there concern about the bill itself but even more concern by the prospects of having it tied in with a vote on health care reform.

Sallie Mae would continue to service student loans under the administration’s proposal, and the company has never said how many local jobs would be at risk. Few jobs at the Hanover Township office are tied directly to loan origination but it is the company’s main loan service center.

Standish, 35, of Mountain Top, asked Specter’s Northeast Regional Director, Andy Wallace, to relay a message that the two matters should be treated separately.

Standish was joined in Specter’s office by fellow Sallie Mae employees Lisa Stashik of Alden, Jeff Stine of Mountain Top, Josh Courter of Wilkes-Barre and Mark Steinkirchner, of Duryea. He told Wallace to express to Specter that, “We really need his support.”

“We are looking at the issue very closely,” Wallace told the group. “It is timely …. We realize you’re concerned about your jobs.”

Casey spokesman Larry Smar said the legislation is still being finalized.

“Sen. Casey has been and continues to be very concerned about the employees in Wilkes-Barre. A lot will depend on what the House does this week,” said Smar.

Stashik, 42, said more than jobs are at stake.

“It would not only affect us but the community. It would have a huge ripple effect if something like that happens,” she said.

“It’s time to make a decision and hopefully make the right one,” Standish said. “To me it’s a no-brainer. Save jobs, save money, save competition. Sometimes politics doesn’t work that way, though.”

Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at (570) 829-7269.

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