Members of a union representing Community College of Philadelphia employees have authorized a strike, raising the possibility that classes could be disrupted for thousands of students with less than two months until graduation.
The college’s Faculty and Staff Federation, also known as AFT Local 2026, said 97% of those who took part in the weeklong poll, which ended Saturday, voted in favor of the strike authorization. About 1,200 full-time faculty, adjunct professors and staff belong to the union.
“This vote sends a strong message to the college that their current offer is unacceptable and that our members are willing to do whatever it takes to secure fair pay and better working conditions, both for themselves and for our students,” Local 2026 co-President Junior Brainard said Monday in a statement.
While the vote gives the union’s leaders the option to organize picket lines, CCP employees will not necessarily walk off the job, and there is no deadline for when a strike would be called. Local 2026 representatives said members are “strike ready” but added that a work stoppage “would be a last resort.”
Negotiators have been meeting to discuss three separate contracts – for each job grouping – since January 2024, and workers have been without a contract for more than six months. The federation last went on strike in 2007, resulting in classes being canceled for two weeks.
CCP administrators earlier this month asked the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to appoint an independent panel to review contract proposals and offer recommendations to resolve the impasse.
Union officials have opposed the effort, which shows they are “more interested in striking than doing the work to ensure that students can graduate on time,” the college said in a pointed statement issued Monday.
“The college welcomes the insight of a neutral third party and can only wonder why the federation would not be confident enough in their position to invite the same,” CCP added in the prepared remarks.
Representatives from the college said a strike while the PLRB request is pending would be illegal, according to their understanding of state law. The commonwealth’s Department of Labor and Industry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the issue Monday.
CCP leadership has offered a 13% pay raise over three years, while Local 2026’s latest proposal incorporates a 30% increase in four years.
Union organizers say the raises are necessary to keep pace with inflation and the salaries at nearby schools, such as Temple University, where pay for adjunct instructors has jumped substantially.
“We are hemorrhaging people because the college isn’t keeping pace with the market,” said Jamie Zigarelli, Local 2026’s treasurer. “And the dedicated folks who remain are now doing the work of two people.”
The union is advocating for increased staffing across a variety of positions; CCP says it hired 20 new faculty last year, bringing the student-to-faculty ratio to 14-1, down from 18-1 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Administrators have also proposed decreasing maximum class sizes and increasing the credit load for full-time professors.
Local 2026 has pushed the college to provide transit passes for employees and students. CCP officials said they have met with SEPTA multiple times and that the authority’s Key Advantage program “remains unaffordable for the college at this time.”
