“I believe in this college, and I know when the staff and teachers have good working conditions, the students will have the best learning conditions.” Nwenna Kaai Gates Adjunct Cochair of Faculty Union Federation.
The fact of the matter is our education system is in crisis all over the United States. The root of action for that change begins within our own city. In Philadelphia, teachers have banded together demanding higher wages as they have been overworked and underpaid, students’ education takes the biggest hit. The overall learning structure is not useful anymore for students with unique needs and questions. CCP students are passionate and want to succeed in their careers, yet need support and resources that lack. Educators here at Community College of Philadelphia have taken steps towards saving education and the future of the students at CCP. On Friday 26th of April, The Faculty Federation Union met up in The Mint building Boardroom M1 to discuss negotiations with the administration of the College and their Representee Matt Fontana. The Union of CCP invited Frank Scales to be present at the open bargaining, as he has been going throughout the semester. This time, Frank Scales organized a group of students along with SGA Members Vice President Angie Orozco, 2nd Vice President and Treasurer Jaritza Hernandez Orsini. Students “showed up and showed out” as Frank would say that Friday morning to stand in the negotiations at the open bargaining and were met with backlash immediately from the Representee Matt Fontana and board of administrators at CCP. Matt Fontana works in labor management relations and is an outside hire attorney. They had the Union of educators and anticipating students wait for three hours as they delayed negotiations proposals until the open bargaining was over, and reluctantly agreed to hear students’ comments in a conversation that was not bargaining yet still treated as if it were. After much back and forth, Matt Fontana responded as any lawyer would and stated the law for negotiations. However, it takes two to come to a final decision, and the Union has a say over who can be present at the open bargaining table. Though students cannot negotiate, they can support their teachers. As CCP students asked for opinions from the administration, they stayed quiet and watched as Matt Fontana stumbled over his words, repeating the law, and treating the conversation with students as bargaining discussion despite it being after the negotiation was halted by Matt Fontana and CCP administration. SGA and students had to actively disagree and sit in to get him to even sit and hear what students had to say.
There in the Boardroom, I had the opportunity to interview Nwenna Kaai Gates adjunct professor Cochair, who will be transitioning to full time faculty in the Fall. She became cochair for the Union in 2019 and has been at CCP since 2014. “I 2019 it was a very different dynamic. I was confused about what was going on with our contract negotiations; we had gone three years without a long contract, so I stepped up and ran for Cochair and won. I was thrust into these heavy-duty contract negotiations. We did end up signing a contract that year and it was not the greatest.” Coming from a Union family, Nwenna knew her duty as educator, she stepped up. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she used her activist background and strong belief that we can all do better to run as Cochair. When I asked her how she felt of the negotiators stepping out she laughs, “So that was their biggest mistake, the reason is because students do not have a clear picture as to how the college works or how the city works and how the city needs to fund the college. Teachers know we must study that, but students aren’t obligated to know these things. It was the biggest mistake they could make. So now, students clearly see what the Faculty Union is dealing with. It is not about getting students on our side, our proposals around transportation, childcare and food insecurity impact everyone and the students at CCP. You know, we are trying to let them know that we see a bigger framework here when it comes to creating a better college. It’s not just about us, higher wages, and better benefits. It is about the fact we need more advisors, counselors, and faculty members at CCP. Some students are still impacted by the pandemic, and I do not think people realize how that has impacted the classroom. The way we teach and operate the classroom. Much has changed. We listen to the students. And that is what they need and deserve.” Students at CCP are passionate and curious about how their education is being affected by the negotiations between Matt Fontana and the board of administrators at CCP. Student Government, more than ever before, are involving themselves for the best interests for Students. President Frank Scales, Vice President Angie Orozco, and 2nd Vice President Jaritza Hernandez Orsini are on the frontlines for student rights, the students have responded boldly and do not look that they will back down until someone hears them and does not waste their time. Students cannot be educated on education, justice, and labor rights when we are not being allowed in spaces like the open bargaining in M1, or actively discouraged for wanting to know more and be knowledgeable about how the politics of our school function. As Nwenna tells me, “The money is here. Do not let anybody tell you it is not. It is a matter of shifting the paradigm and shifting the mindset. There is lots of wealth in the City of Philadelphia.
