Strike Preparation

CCP wORKERS dEMAND 3 fair contracts

After over a year of bargaining, the College Administration still refuses to take seriously the priorities set by you and your colleagues. After 26 open bargaining sessions, 30 letters of solidarity from Philadelphia elected and community leaders, and with nearly $80 million dollars in cash reserves and a recent 20% increase in operating appropriations from the City and State, it’s time for CCP to agree to significant new investments in the faculty and staff our students need and deserve.

Strike Preparation

We hope to reach an agreement with the College Administration without a strike, but we must be prepared to walk out of negotiations if the Administration continues to ignore our demands. Learn more about preparing for a strike below.

What is a strike?

Why strike?

What are the goals of a strike at CCP?

Can the college really afford our demands?

Will I be paid by the College during a strike?

How is the Union’s Strike fund distributed?

What loans are available to me in the event of a strike?

If we strike, what happens to my medical benefits?

How much are COBRA Premiums?

HOW WE WILL WIN (link to strike info page)

What is a strike?

A strike is a concerted work stoppage or slowdown. At CCP, a strike means that all work done by faculty and staff stops. A strike would continue until we agreed to new contracts.

Why strike?

A strike is a powerful way for a union and its members to win a fair contract, espeIf we strike, what happens to my medical benefits? In the event of a strike, CCP may or may not choose to suspend our health insurance coverage. You and your coworkers need to prepare for health insurance to be suspended. If that happens, there are options available to remain insured. You can enroll in COBRA to maintain your coverage, which requires you to pay the full premium. You also have the option to enroll in a different healthcare plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace or through joining a spouse’s healthcare plan. You could also choose to wait to see if you or a member of your family needs healthcare coverage during a strike, and if needed, elect COBRA at that point in time. Our union is prepared to make loans from the Negotiations/ Strike fund if you are unable to pay this premium during a strike and need medical care. Although our bargaining teams will make every effort to ensure that a return to work agreement includes retroactive healthcare coverage for all faculty and staff, this is something that we will need to negotiate and our ability to win this provision will depend on the strength of the strike.

cially when management is refusing to take bargaining seriously. The results of a successful strike can be huge gains for members, as Temple U. Graduate Students (TUGSA), Rutgers University, and many others have shown recently.

A strike shows management and the public that the College cannot function without our labor and demonstrates that our work is essential to CCP’s ability to operate.

A strike both defends and improves our working conditions. For instance, the College Administration continues to insist full- and part-time faculty do not work enough and that they should have less job security. CCP’s Administration has consistently disrespected and underpaid CCP staff and denied a living wage guarantee for our members.

What are the goals of a strike at CCP?

One goal would be to force the College to accept proposals they currently are rejecting, such as our raise proposals and our three-unit staffing proposals for smaller class sizes, reduced caseloads, and increased staffing so students get the support and learning conditions they need. Another goal of a strike would be to defend our current tenure and evaluation processes from attacks that would undermine faculty expertise and job security.

Can the college really afford our demands?

Yes, they absolutely can.

CCP, with nearly $80 million dollars in cash reserves and a 20% increase in operating appropriations from the City and State, can afford significant new investments in the faculty and staff that our students need and deserve.

Last Spring, many of you participated in a City Budget Campaign that resulted in an additional $5 million in operating funding for CCP for the 2024-25 fiscal year, the largest single-year increase in operating funding the College has ever had.

It’s up to us - the people who make CCP work every day - to force the College to invest its resources in those very people.

A strike is the most effective tool and may be necessary if the College refuses to make the overdue investments in faculty, staff and students we are calling for.

Will I be paid by the College during a strike?

No. You will not be paid during a strike.

How is the Union’s Strike fund distributed?

The Federation has a Negotiations/Strike fund (funded with your Union dues) that covers expenses related to negotiations and going on strike. Money in the fund is first used to pay legal fees associated with negotiations or striking, then is used to guarantee continuation of medical benefits for Federation members during a strike, and then is used to pay for lost wages to Federation members who were on strike and lost pay.

Strike pay - for lost wages during a strike - is not disbursed until after a strike is over and our contracts are settled.

What loans are available to me in the event of a strike?

Our local and national union (AFT) has partnered with Freedom Credit Union to offer interest-free loans of up to $600 per week. Members become eligible for strike loans once they have been on strike for 5 working days and missed a paycheck. Any member is eligible for these strike loans once you open an account with Freedom Credit Union. There is no credit check, but you must be a member of the union in order to qualify for a loan. We recommend that members open an account with Freedom Credit Union as soon as possible. Freedom Credit Union is offering incentives for CCP employees of up to $200 for new accounts and $200 for each referral.

Visit https://bit.ly/FCUnewaccount to open a new account with these incentives with Freedom Credit Union.

If we strike, what happens to my medical benefits?

In the event of a strike, CCP may or may not choose to suspend our health insurance coverage. You and your coworkers need to prepare for health insurance to be suspended. If that happens, there are options available to remain insured. You can enroll in COBRA to maintain your coverage, which requires you to pay the full premium. You also have the option to enroll in a different healthcare plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace or through joining a spouse’s healthcare plan. You could also choose to wait to see if you or a member of your family needs healthcare coverage during a strike, and if needed, elect COBRA at that point in time. Our union is prepared to make loans from the Negotiations/ Strike fund if you are unable to pay this premium during a strike and need medical care. Although our bargaining teams will make every effort to ensure that a return to work agreement includes retroactive healthcare coverage for all faculty and staff, this is something that we will need to negotiate and our ability to win this provision will depend on the strength of the strike.