HACC’s teachers union plans rally Tuesday, will strike if college does not offer ‘fair’ contract

• By Ashley Stalnecker / LNP | LancasterOnline

HACC’s teachers union says hundreds of staff will strike if its negotiations Tuesday with the college do not yield a “fair and equitable” contract.

After nearly three years of negotiating with the central Pennsylvania community college, which is based in Harrisburg and has a campus in East Lampeter Township, the union’s chief negotiator, Amy Withrow, said “this needs to end” or a strike might be the only way they can bring negotiations to a conclusion.

“I’m ready on the 28th – let’s get this done,” Withrow said. “If truly the goal is student success, I challenge (HACC administrators) to prove it on the 28th.”

The union will hold a rally outside the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Following the rally, the union’s negotiators will meet with the college to work toward a contract. If the contract is not settled, Pennsylvania State Education Association region advocacy coordinator Lauri Lebo says the union will announce a strike is imminent but won’t publicly release a date.

Unlike public school teacher unions, colleges are not bound by state school code to give administrators 48 hours notice before picketing. HACC’s union leadership already has authority to walk out, too, as 93% of its membership authorized a strike earlier this month.

At a virtual town hall meeting Tuesday, state education association labor representative Adam Weber told the audience a strike means faculty won’t hold classes, answer emails, post assignments or answer questions from the college’s roughly 12,000 students — nearly 2,000 of whom attend the campus just east of Lancaster.

“Nobody wants to go on strike,” Weber said. “It’s more important that we’ve tried everything. … If we go on strike, this is the college causing this to happen.”

In a written email response, the college’s media team said the college would remain open during a strike and would find a way to finish their selected programs during that time.

“The College’s proposal represents a forward-looking and balanced agreement that modernizes compensation practices, enhances fairness and strengthens collaboration — while ensuring stability for full-time faculty, adjunct faculty and the institution,” the college said in a statement.

‘The risk’ of prolonged negotiations

At the town hall, Withrow and Weber shared details of the negotiations and the logistics of a potential strike with media, students and parents. If the union strikes, it would be the first walkout by a union in the Pennsylvania State Education Association’s Southern region — ranging from Fulton and Juniata counties to Lancaster and Lebanon counties — in 17 years.

While Withrow warned students that a longer strike could impact students’ ability to complete required coursework and credit hours toward their degrees, the college’s media team said it would seek ways to allow students to finish their selected programs, but didn’t specify how.

The college also would adhere to its add, drop and withdrawal deadlines. The Sept. 1 deadline for students to seek a refund for dropping a class in the fall has already passed, but according to the college’s website, students can seek an exception for “extenuating circumstances.”

“The risk of prolonging (negotiations), the risk of … morale continuing to decrease, the risk, the real risk, of losing quality faculty … out of frustration of how long (negotiating) has gone on is becoming too high,” Withrow said.

Professors haven’t received a wage increase since July 2022 despite raises being doled out to staff and administrators, according to Withrow.

Since November 2023, Withrow said 21 faculty have left and only 13 have been replaced, bringing the number of full-time faculty down from 255 to 247. The union, which includes adjunct faculty, represents 750 total faculty — 100 of which teach at the Lancaster campus.

In 2018, Withrow said the college had 333 full-time faculty.

Outgoing faculty were replaced by employees working for an average of $15,000 less per year, Weber said. Savings from those replacements and positions administrators haven’t filled total $876,989, he said.

HACC financials ‘remain strong’

Meanwhile, Weber pointed out the college is sitting on $77.8 million in its unrestricted fund balance (essentially, the college’s savings account). According to Weber, the college’s board of trustees approved 3% raises for all employees in the 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, but the faculty “have not seen a dime of those increases.”

The union is trying to include back pay for overdue raises in the contract.

“This is not about an inability to pay,” Weber said. “Anybody who tells you that doesn’t know how to do basic math.”

In response to Weber’s claim that the college can afford to meet the union’s terms, the college’s media team said “HACC administration continues to bargain in good faith” and is following four guiding principles: “prioritizing student success,” “supporting the affordability of its offerings,” “providing all employees with comparable benefits” and “increasing wages for all employees while ensuring fiscal stability.”

A 2024 financial audit found the college’s financial position “remains strong.” The college paid nearly $2 million less in employee salaries and benefits in 2024, compared to 2023 ($90,964,121 in 2024 and $92,350,383 in 2023). The college’s overall operating budget increased in the same time frame, going from $144,976,409 in 2023 to $146,592,867 in 2024.

Salary isn’t the only sticking point in negotiations, though.

Faculty want to add existing policies to the contract, including those that allow faculty teaching at least two classes a semester to waive tuition costs for themselves for one class per semester and allow faculty to maintain a primary work location. The college has five campuses in central Pennsylvania.

“If we were asking for massive enhancements, I can understand why we’re in the situation we’re in. But since we’re not, it’s very frustrating,” Weber said.

Pertaining to the union’s status quo requests, the college’s media team said a collective bargaining agreement “addresses wages, hours and working conditions,” while many policies and procedures relate to matters “outside these mandatory subjects of bargaining.”

“Therefore, the college has no obligation or desire to include them in a collective bargaining agreement,” the college said.

Both Weber and Withrow asked attendees to sign a petition on the union’s website, HACCEA.org, and send emails to administrators requesting they approve a fair contract for faculty.

The college acknowledged it has heard from some parents, students and other community members.

“We’re not going away,” Weber said. “You’ve got this faculty from now until forever. You can either work with us or make the conscious decision to get in the way and cause this strike to happen, and then you can deal with the aftermath.”