As the Community College of Allegheny County celebrated its 60th anniversary on Sept. 26, a separate gathering at its main campus was also marking history: Unionized faculty led a rally for the first time since forming in the ‘70s.
The rally was just one in a series of actions the American Federation of Teachers Local 2067 has undertaken in recent weeks to break an impasse with CCAC administration after seven months of contract negotiations. A week before the rally, faculty overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization vote, which has yet to be enacted.
Stephen Bannister, the faculty union’s president, told Public Source there are no “imminent plans” to strike, but all options are being weighed.
“We do look at [a strike] as a very unfortunate one to have to choose, but if we’re forced to choose that, that’s the one we’ll choose,” he said.
Several local officials, including the entire Allegheny County Council, and other unions at nearby higher ed institutions have signaled support for AFT Local 2067’s demands for competitive wages and improved working conditions.
In a proclamation read on Sept. 22, days after the strike vote, County Council highlighted CCAC’s $2.1 billion economic impact on the region, emphasizing faculty’s role in that figure. AFT Local 2067 covers both teaching and non-teaching faculty members, such as advisors and librarians.
“The college is at the point that they need to invest in its most important thing, and that’s its faculty,” Bannister said. “They need to look at it that way, not just pay increases — it’s an investment in the institution.”
In response to a list of questions Public Source sent to CCAC, a spokesperson said the school’s priority is to deliver “fair value” to students and taxpayers.
“CCAC is committed to working through the bargaining process to achieve a new [contract] that provides a fair compensation package to all members of our teaching and non-teaching faculty … The college remains hopeful that the parties can reach a mutually acceptable agreement without disruption to our students or the college community,” the statement said.
‘More for less’
CCAC serves 30,000 students across four campuses and three centers throughout the county. After years of losses, the school has recently seen enrollment increases, which Bannister credited to relationships faculty members have built with prospective students.
“Our enrollment’s up. That’s not because of administration. That’s because of the one-on-one interaction with faculty,” he said. “They’re working with students and encouraging them to enroll and going to the job fairs and meeting with students and answering phone calls.”
The goal in pointing that out isn’t to tear the college down, he said.
“Just the opposite: Our goal is to build it up as much as we can, so more and more people want to come here.”
At the same time, Bannister asks administrators to consider how long faculty can go without higher pay before education quality suffers.
The college is in part funded through taxes paid by Allegheny County residents. Last year, CCAC President Quintin Bullock told council that every dollar the county gives the school yields a return of $2.70 to taxpayers.
Bullock also said the college’s students go on to earn an additional $11,600 annually compared to someone working in the state with only a high school diploma.
CCAC boasts one of the lowest tuition rates for community colleges in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, according to data the union shared with Public Source, starting salaries for faculty are also among the lowest.
In Pennsylvania, community college faculty earn an average salary of around $75,000. At CCAC, the average salary for full-time faculty is around $64,000.
CCAC’s pay makes it hard for some faculty to afford living expenses, according to Bannister.
“I hear a lot of grumblings of folks just having a tough time making ends meet,” he said. “You have this degree that you spent a lot of time and money on, and you finally get to go into education like you want to and then … you’re struggling. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
In the last year, union membership increased from 193 to 230, which Bannister believes is because more faculty became frustrated with what they were making.
History professor Jacqueline Cavalier, who also serves as the union’s grievance vice president, said that faculty are “asked to do more for less,” which has been “extremely challenging.” The result of this, she said, is an energized campus.
“This is probably one of the greatest periods of momentum among our teaching and non-teaching faculty collectively mobilizing together that I’ve seen,” she said.
Stalled negotiations
Earlier last month, 96% of faculty union members voted to authorize a strike, giving leadership the go-ahead to enact one at any moment. Strikes are often reserved as a last resort because, while they can be effective, they come at a cost to workers who forgo wages.
Few community college unions actually go on strike, even after successful authorization votes. In November 2025, professors at Harrisburg Area Community College went on strike for two days before reaching a deal with administrators.
Cavalier said faculty at CCAC believe a strike could be detrimental to students, so they’re “taking every measure” to avoid one. Nearly half of CCAC students indicated in a school survey that if not for the college, they couldn’t have continued their education.
At CCAC’s main campus on Tuesday, around 30 students told Public Source they were unaware of the faculty union’s contract issues and couldn’t comment.
The only student who agreed to speak was 23-year-old Imogene Weiss, who attends the school part-time. Weiss said she was upset to hear about faculty working conditions, and she wants her professors to be fairly paid.
While Weiss hopes the college and the union can reach an agreement, she said she would “fully support” a strike if negotiations continue to drag.
“I would much rather that they strike and use all means than leave the school to try to find somewhere else with a better contract, because I don’t want to lose the professors that we have,” she said.
A strike would also be almost unprecedented on campus. Bannister and Cavalier said they’re not aware of any strikes or authorization votes at CCAC since one in 1972, a year after the union was formed.
“We’ve never had a rally,” Bannister said. “We never had a need for one.”
He pins some of the contract negotiation difficulties on a “tremendous amount” of administration turnover. He said institutional memory on the opposite side of the bargaining table is limited, which slows progress because ideas are thrown out that were already tried in the past, such as proposing changes to teaching faculty duties outside the classroom.
While a strike may or may not happen, union leaders don’t plan on backing down from getting the pay and working conditions they believe faculty deserve.
“We’re doing the right thing, and we’re asking for the right things,” Bannister said.
Maddy Franklin reports on higher ed for Pittsburgh’s Public Source, in partnership with Open Campus, and can be reached at madison@publicsource.org.
This story was fact-checked by Octavia Liku.
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