UNI union votes to cut jobs

The union that represents non-faculty employees at the University of Northern Iowa has voted to cut 27 jobs. University Vice President for Administration and Finance Tom Schellhardt says AFSCME Local 2659 approved the move after discussing two options.They voted yesterday on either taking leaves without pay, or permanent layoffs. Schellhardt says they’d exhausted all other alternatives to make up a one-point-nine million dollar budget cut.He says they’ve trimmed back just about everything possible.Schellhardt says the layoffs must be approved by the Iowa Department of Personnel and then the affected employees will be notified.