April 17, 2019
This past month, the Sierra Club PA Chapter and Philadelphia Climate Works took action to support the contract negotiation struggle facing the American Federation of Teachers Local 2026, representing the faculty and staff at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). Together, we completed a digital advocacy action email, published a blog to educate Sierra Club members on the CCP community’s concerns, completed a contribution to the union’s strike and scholarship fund, and co-organized a solidarity event to generate advocacy calls and letters in support. Although these actions at first glance reflect work that the Sierra Club completes regularly, this collaboration between labor and climate justice organizations illustrates what years of relationship building can achieve and demonstrates the interconnectedness of labor and environmental issues impacting Philadelphia residents.
Almost four years ago, the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter joined the American Federation of Teachers Local 2026, along with other environmental, community and labor organizations to form the Philadelphia Climate Works Coalition. Together, we made a commitment to build the relationships, educate and learn alongside community, union, and environmental leaders on issues impacting community resilience, and build the power necessary to produce solutions and tangible benefits for people impacted by climate change. This move also reflects years of internal and external organizing by the Sierra Club to respond to the ‘jobs vs. climate’ narrative and demonstrate that not only do environmental and labor justice have a place in Sierra Club’s work but that the impact of our work demands its inclusion.
So, when two members of AFT Local 2026 members and the Sierra Club, John Braxton and Margaret Stephens reached out to Philadelphia Climate Works and the Pennsylvania Chapter for support in the face of a possible strike to achieve a fair contract with the Community College of Philadelphia, it was an easy decision for the Chapter to leverage our advocacy tools to support our members and partners.
For nearly three years, the staff and faculty at the Community College of Philadelphia has been working without a fair contract while negotiating in good faith to push back against the worst proposed contract in the College’s history. This conflict is also a reflection of years of insufficient investment in the Community College by the City of Philadelphia, leaving this city’s only affordable pathway to higher education available to working Philadelphians to struggle with funding. These compounding issues have an impact not only on the staff and faculty members at CCP, but also on the students who rely on the institution and the greater Philadelphia community.
We worked with Margaret Stephens to post a letter to the Sierra Club community “Support a Fair Contract for Community College Workers,” where she wrote, “As a fellow Sierra Club volunteer leader and member of the American Federation of Teachers Local 2026, I understand that a sustainable and just future is one where all workers have access to family-supporting wages, fair work hours, and educational support.” We sent this letter, along with a call to action to sign an online petition targeting the President of the Community College of Philadelphia, Dr. Guy Generals to the Sierra Club’s Philadelphia community and 86 people responded to our online petition, with 20 of those members writing their own personalized message.
On Wednesday, April 3, 2018, Philadelphia Climate Works and Philadelphia Jobs with Justice co-hosted a call-in and letter writing social where community members could drop by to socialize with other social justice advocates and make calls to CCP President Guy Generals’ office, write letters to Mayor Kenney to ask him to increase the City’s contributions to CCP, and write encouraging letters to the AFT 2026 members on the verge of strike. Thirteen people made calls, and wrote letters in support, and a few members of AFT 2026 also attended the social.
Philadelphia Climate Works coordinator, Zakia Elliott, is shown recording the number of calls made during the social on a large sheet of paper attached to a wall 
Two people are shown writing letters during Philadelphia Climate Works and Philadelphia Jobs With Justice’s call-in and letter writing social
That evening, following several long days of bargaining sessions and years of working without a fair contract, AFT 2026 and the Community College of Philadelphia reached a tentative deal for all three bargaining units representing the faculty and staff of the college. The deal, now ratified by the college, includes wage increases over the next six years, bringing the lowest wages to $15 an hour and more by 2020, a healthcare option without premiums, and the same course load for current faculty members (although the union had to compromise on new faculty members being required to teach an additional course per year). Additionally, Mayor Jim Kenney pledged a $1.3 million increase in CCP’s funding next year, and City Councilman David Oh introduced a bill that would further push the city’s contribution to cover a third of CCP’s operating fund.
This is a huge win for CCP faculty and staff, and the Sierra Club PA Chapter and Philadelphia Climate Works is overjoyed to see a resolution to AFT 2026’s contract negotiation struggle. We hope that our efforts in some small way helped to elevate the issue, and that other Chapters and organizations can look at this development as a model for how to move in alignment with partners, and bridge the perceived labor-environmental divide to bring tangible and transformative benefits to our communities.