Today, we spent ten hours in meditation. We exchanged multiple proposals with the administration. While there was still almost no movement on financials, there was a slight shift in another area: management began engaging with a couple of our long-standing issues. For the first time in ten months, we saw signs of willingness to discuss concerns like PT pay equity and course cancellations, opening the possibility for more substantive progress in the days ahead.
We are not scheduled to return to the table until Friday. Administration indicated they need time to prepare for tomorrow’s board meeting, which means the next two days are critical for escalating the pressure on administration.
The strength of the picket lines, the consistency of turnout, the amplification across online spaces, and our outreach to elected officials are forcing management to engage.
Today we unleashed a cascade of pressure:
- We showed how President Bennings misled the Board about the Ending Fund Balance. Video
- We put out a press release addressing the President’s trademarking of a school slogan – a potentially illegal use of her position to exploit public resources for personal gain
- Both FFAP and FCE launched a Vote of No Confidence in President Bennings
- Eight Portland City Councilors sent an open letter in support of us [link]
- Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read stood with us at the Cascade picket [link]
- We swelled the ranks of our picket lines at Cascade and Rock Creek!
- ASPCC sent an email to every PCC student calling on management to settle a fair contract!
At the table, we continued to push for Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to help preserve course offerings at AY25 levels along with budgetary flexibility and dynamic scheduling. And we made a small amount of progress in PT pay equity.
The College is clearly indicating that they intend to refuse to pay striking FCE and FFAP workers for days on strike in effort to punish us for our legally protected labor action. This is unacceptable. We need to keep building on this momentum. Tomorrow is an important opportunity to demonstrate our unity and visibility. Please join us on the line at Sylvania and Southeast and at the People’s Board Meeting.
The People’s Board Meeting is tomorrow night! We’re going to have many local elected leaders, including one of our own directors, in attendance. Check the strike website for details.
Our collective power is growing!