CCP faculty union says school hasn’t provided promised SEPTA passes for students. Administration says negotiations are ongoing

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The faculty union at the Community College of Philadelphia said it is still waiting for the school to provide SEPTA passes to all students as pledged during last year’s contract negotiations, but the school said no such promises were ever made.

A year ago, a last-hour contract agreement prevented a strike by the union representing professors and staff at the Community College. AFT Local 2026 Secretary Marissa Johnson Valenzuela said as part of the talks, the college agreed to provide SEPTA passes to all students.

“We averted a strike really largely because of that one issue,” she said.

Johnson Valenzuela noted that CCP has launched a pilot giving SEPTA passes to some students at CCP’s Career and Advanced Technology Center in West Philadelphia, which she said is “a very small percentage of students who attend the Community College of Philadelphia.”

“That’s not what we bargained for,” said Johnson Valenzuela.

In a statement to KYW Newsradio, Dr. Shannon Rooney, CCP’s vice president of enrollment and strategic communications, said she appreciated the union’s advocacy for students, but that the school did not agree to provide SEPTA passes for students.

“The College and Federation signed a non-contractual memorandum of understanding, which reads: ‘The parties agree that during the term of this agreement the College will negotiate with SEPTA for a free public transportation benefit,’” reads part of the statement.

Rooney said those negotiations with SEPTA continued as recently as Monday, April 6, and that they led to the current pilot launched for students at the CATC in West Philadelphia in January. She said the school is also consulting the Student Government Association to gauge interest about potential free SEPTA passes, and next steps towards possible passes will be announced in the coming months.