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PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Teachers say: 'No give-backs!'

Published Mar 23, 2007 11:20 PM

A strike by 1,400 Philadelphia Community College workers entered its second week March 19 in the face of the college administrators’ demands that workers take what amount to cuts in pay and benefits. The Faculty and Staff Federation, which represents teachers and support staff at the two-year college, called the strike March 12 after more than a year of negotiations.


Passing motorists honk in support of striking
Philadelphia Community College workers
March 14.
WW photo: Betsey Piette

Faculty and support staff have been working without a contract since August. Union leaders say the administration is trying to offset the increasing cost of health care by reducing the salary package.

The union is seeking annual salary increases of 3.75 percent for five years. The college has offered 3.62 percent over the same period. “What the administration is offering wouldn’t keep up with inflation,” said John Braxton, co-president of the faculty federation. “We don’t want to go backwards.”

Full-time faculty members at CCP earn about $5,000 less a year than the average Philadelphia School District teacher, according to the Pennsylvania Board of Education web site.

College administrators point to “expected budget shortfalls” as their reason for failing to meet workers’ demands. Yet they found money to give themselves big raises and to spend on expensive advertising campaigns. Now the workers and the 36,000 students who will pay higher tuition are being told to make up the difference. It appears that most students are supporting the teachers.

As striking workers chant, “No contract, no work!” at picket lines set up along Spring Garden Street, which borders the campus, passing motorists have shown their support by honking the car horns and raising their fists. A St. Patrick’s Day rally in support of the striking teachers was held on March 16 despite a snowstorm.