PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A strike has been averted at the Community College of Philadelphia after the faculty union and the school reached a tentative agreement on a new contract early Wednesday morning.
A 19-hour marathon session of negotiations ended around 4 a.m. — three hours before the strike deadline set by the Faculty and Staff Federation of Community College of Philadelphia, which represents 1,200 full- and part-time instructors and support staff.
An email and a text message were sent at 6 a.m. alerting the 13,000 students and the rest of the CCP community that a strike would not happen, according to a school official.
“Really thrilled that we were able to settle this without coming to a strike,” said Junior Brainard, union co-president.
The union’s contract expired at the end of August but negotiations have been taking place for more than a year. Members had been pushing for raises and smaller class sizes.
While the terms of the agreement could not be publicly released until members ratify it in the coming days, Brainard said they did get historic raises.
Co-President Rainah Chambliss said they also got other wins — not just for them, but for students. She said CCP agreed to negotiate with SEPTA for student and staff transit passes.
“We have students that walk here from West Philadelphia. We have students that drive around and can’t find parking spaces so they’re late to class,” she said. “We have students that just need [SEPTA passes] because they don’t make a lot of money or any money.”