Clash Dismissed

With friction at CCP, the dailies don't have a monopoly on strike talk.

by Doron Taussig

Labor

A midst the old curricula and piles of composition papers in Karen Schermerhorn's cluttered office at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), there sit two pieces of worn, but potent, paraphernalia. On the bookshelf is a white box with red lettering, labeled "Picket Line Song Sheets," which contains the lyrics to such tunes as "Solidarity Forever" and "The CCP Piety Song." Within arm's length of the desk is a pile of placards that read, "CCP on Strike."

"In case we need them," the English professor explains.

Schermerhorn was hired in 1967, two years after CCP was founded and three years before the Faculty and Staff Federation (FSF), an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, was recognized as a bargaining agent. She was on leave in 1970 when the union first went on strike, but joined the picketers anyway, and participated in subsequent strikes over issues from workload to pay to health care, in 1972, '76, '81, '83 and '98. She even met her husband, Evan Seymour, on the picket line.

Today, Schermerhorn is co-president of FSF, and finds herself in a familiar situation: With the college pleading poverty and asking for concessions, the union is readying for war. It has formed a "strike mobilization committee" to prepare for the worst and, last Friday, launched a "contract campaign" to cast doubt on the school's management of its resources. Yes, at CCP, the good old days may be here again.

The contract between CCP and FSF, which represents 425 full-time faculty, 700 part-time and about 200 other school employees, expired in August. The two parties have been negotiating all year, and the school, which receives funding from the city, the state and tuition payments, has been emphasizing its financial limitations. CCP has indicated that it would like to switch to a cheaper health-care provider, which it estimates could save $900,000. This is a particularly sensitive proposal for the union, Schermerhorn says, because "we have bought that 'really good benefits for lower salary increases' [rationale] for years."

In late September, Schermerhorn and her co-president, John Braxton, sent a letter to school president Stephen Curtis, requesting detailed information about the school's expenditures, including the number of administrative staff, their salaries and the total cost of a recently launched public-image campaign called the "Path to Possibilities," which runs ads promoting CCP as a beacon of opportunity.

Essentially, they wanted the school to prove that it wasn't cutting benefits while wasting money elsewhere.

Perhaps viewing the request as an attempt to gather ammunition for a public-relations war, CCP responded through its attorney that the union had no legal right to such information, and that it was "not related to [the Federation's] legal duty to represent its members." Still, it added, a lot of the information was available in the college's published budget. The union, which concedes that the school is not legally required to provide the information, argues that the budget is too general.

So, last Friday, the Federation kicked off its "contract campaign." As students hustled between buildings, ducking cold gusts of wind, they were assaulted by propaganda: signs on the sides of food carts, fliers handed out by their teachers and a billboard truck that drove around campus, all with the slogan, "Teachers and students open their books. Why won't the administration at the Community College of Philadelphia open theirs?" The fliers also included pictures of "Path to Possibilities" mats being scraped off the sidewalk after students slipped on them — a symbol, the union felt, of waste.

"We need good PR," said Braxton after passing out fliers, "but we have big questions about whether [the school's money] is well-spent. To see them pour a lot of money to get rubber mats that are not even well-glued to the sidewalk ..." Schermerhorn adds that she suspects administration salaries are too high. (The average professor makes about $55,000, and among administrative personnel, she says, "We think there are some earning $150,000.") There are other concerns, too, like the amount paid to medical-benefits consultants.

The school, meanwhile, has maintained its original position: that it has met its responsibilities, and that "the union has all the information it needs to continue to provide excellent representation to its members," according to a statement prepared for City Paper.

The union believes this shows that CCP has something to hide. Maybe. But it also reveals the crux of the groups' disagreement: FSF considers itself a full partner in the operation of CCP; the administration thinks FSF should mind its business and act as a bargaining agent. They still have a few months to find a middle ground — "Recent strikes have always been in March," Schermerhorn says — but those posters are ready to go.

(doron@citypaper.net)