A last-hour deal was reached to avoid a faculty and staff strike at Community College of Philadelphia. The American Federation of Teachers Local 2026, the union that represents about 1,200 teachers and workers at the Community College of Philadelphia, was set to go on strike Wednesday, March 26, 2025, unless college management met their demands, union officials said. Then early on March 26 the union announced a tentative deal that keeps workers in classrooms and on campus. More details coming soon! NO STRIKE pic.twitter.com/Omjfo1B4Ay— Faculty & Staff Community College of Philadelphia (@FSFCCP) March 26, 2025 “We finally reached an agreement around 4am,” AFT Local 2026 secretary Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela said in a brief statement to NBC10. “We believe we reached a tentative agreement that will improve the lives of our faculty and staff members and improve the learning conditions of CCP’s students.” More details are expected to emerge as CCP’s Board of Trustees meet later in the morning, Johnson-Valenzuela said. Union leadership will then reveal more details of what the tentative deal includes. What was at stake for CCP, its workers? The union announced the strike deadline earlier this week. The move came about a week after members of the union authorized a strike. In a statement on the deadline, the union’s leadership said that the decision to strike came after “almost 15 months of bargaining, hundreds of hours at the bargaining table, and working without a contract since August.” Union members said in a statement that they are “tired of waiting for management.” The union said it was seeking “fair pay, staffing, and free public transit for students” and, in a statement, union officials claimed that college management was stalling the negotiation process. Also, the union claimed, adjunct faculty at the school are paid about 35% less than equivalent positions at nearby Temple University and the school’s staffing is down 25% compared to pre-pandemic staffing levels. This led union members, officials said, to feel overworked and underpaid. “We have been bargaining in good faith and we will continue to bargain in good faith long into the night if necessary to get the contracts our members need,” Union Co-President Rainah Chambliss said in a statement. In a statement released last week, officials with the Community College of Philadelphia called for a neutral third-party to review proposals from both sides and provide recommendations for a path forward. “The college welcomes the insight of a neutral third party and can only wonder why the federation would not be confident enough in their position to invite the same,” college officials said in a statement. Also, school officials said that, among other offers on the table, they have proposed a 13% salary increase along with “enhanced best-in-class medical benefits.” This story is developing and will be updated. Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. ...read more read less