Community College of Philadelphia staff, faculty reach tentative deal to avert strike

PHILADELPHIA - A strike has been averted at Community College of Philadelphia as faculty and staff reached a tentative deal Wednesday morning, just hours before the strike deadline.

What we know:

The Community College of Philadelphia and the American Federation of Teachers Local 2026 reached a deal with significant wage increases, more staffing, smaller class size, and free transportation for students after 14 months of negotiation.

"We showed what can happen when faculty, staff and students stand in real solidarity with each other. In a moment where higher education and working people are under attack, our victory for higher wages,increased staffing, smaller class sizes, and SEPTA passes for students gives me hope that when we fight together for the common good, we can win.  This campaign wasn’t just about us. It was about our students and our community," Co-President Rainah Chambliss said.

The union, which consists of over 1,200 classified staff, part-time faculty members, visiting lecturers and full-time faculty members, will vote on the tentative agreement next week.

The backstory:

The union representing faculty and staff at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) set a strike deadline for 7 a.m. Wednesday. 

The co-presidents of the Faculty and Staff Federation of CCP said 97 percent of its 1,200 members voted to authorize a strike two weeks ago.

Currently, the Federation said it's negotiating for higher wages, increased staffing and SEPTA passes for students. Negotiations have been going on for nearly 15 months.

"Classes would be shutdown. The college will pretty much come to a halt," said Rainah Chambliss, Co-President of the Faculty and Staff Federation of CCP. "We have not seen the type of movement that we feel like was important and there are still some issues that there hasn’t been any movement on."

"Dignity, respect, wages that allow our families to thrive. Right now we are here at the bargaining table. We are willing to bargain all day today, all night," said Junior Brainard, Co-President of the Faculty and Staff Federation of CCP. "We are in a staffing crisis here at the College. We’ve seen a 25 percent reduction in the staff who work here since the pandemic but our enrollment numbers are back up that means students can’t get access to the services they need here on campus."

CCP filed for a factfinder through the PA Labor Relations Board. The college said the factfinder will meet with both sides, take a look at each side’s proposal and provide neutral feedback on a path to settlement. 

However, the Federation believes the College is using the factfinder as a stall tactic in negotiations.

"We’re not stalling anything. We’ve been continuing to negotiate while the factfinder has been doing their job. The only thing that we’re stalling right now is the strike that would upend our students’ lives," said Shannon Rooney, VP for Enrollment Management and Strategic Communications for CCP. "The College decided to go that path because we wanted to avoid the harm that would come to our students especially this close to graduation in the event of a strike. If we wind up suspending classes roughly a week and a half or more, that could threaten the timeline for end-of-spring semester, beginning-of-summer semester so it could really disrupt student lives depending on that graduation date."

About 13-thousand CCP students would be impacted if a strike were to happen. Many of them support the workers and teachers.

"You want quality, you got to pay for quality," said student Mary-Jo Donnelly. "They’re not just negotiating for themselves. They’re negotiating for students as well."

"They deserve to get paid for the hours they put in you know because they’re good professors, they’re good staff workers here and it’s not like the College doesn’t have the money," said student Deedee Haw.

"I kind of don’t like the idea because I kind of need to graduate on time. I know that’ll push our graduation back," said student Zoe Wilis. "I definitely think the staff should be getting their needs met."

Frank Bufford is a maintenance mechanic at CCP and is going on five years on the job. He said they haven’t received a raise in four years and have been working without a contract since last August.

"Food bills are going up and we’ve been getting the same pay," said Bufford. "Thirty-five cents, we can’t live off of that. So, I’m hoping they come up with a decision now or we’ve got to strike."