“We have been bargaining for over 500 days,” said Howard Community College sociology professor Mari Wepprecht. “We’ve been really waiting for the HCC side to respond to that, and so we were ready, honestly, like a year ago.”
Wepprecht, a 13-year professor at HCC, joined about 50 union members, professors, students, and local leaders in chanting across Howard Community College’s quad Monday afternoon.
“My son and I are here today because we believe that faculty deserve a good first contract. My emphasis is on ‘good,’” she said.
United Academics of Maryland, a union representing full-time faculty at Maryland community colleges, helped organize the rally. The union is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.
English professor Dr. Tim Bruno is part of the bargaining team. He said the two sides have recently come close to finalizing a contract, but cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and health benefits are some factors holding up an agreement.
“Some of those proposals were sitting on their side for over a year,” he told Baltimore Fishbowl. “We could, in fact, be done right now, except the administration has decided to dig in their heels about things like faculty pay, health benefits…”
In January 2024, the faculty union began negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement, or a standardized contract for all full-time faculty. Employees who work on 12-month or 10-month contracts are considered full-time. After sending numerous proposals to the HCC administrators, the union is just starting to hear back.
Just one day before the rally, HCC President Daria Willis and the college’s Board of Trustees announced they would give “eligible” full-time faculty a 4% COLA, along with a “one-time, performance-based merit payment” of $3,500 for Fiscal Year 2026. Bruno said the offer stemmed from an earlier proposal and was the administration’s attempt to “get ahead of the story.”
“If everyone gets [the $3,500 payment], it’s not based on merit. If it’s not added to the base pay, it’s not merit. It’s a bribe,” said philosophy professor Dr. Alejandro Muzzio during the rally.
A spokesperson for Howard Community College told Baltimore Fishbowl, “We continue to bargain in good faith with AFT and look forward to reaching full agreement on our first negotiated contract.” They went on to say the union and HCC agreed upon COLA and “merit increases mirroring those given to non-bargaining unit employees” last fiscal year.
Wepprecht’s sign read “4 percent won’t make a deal. Show faculty some RESPECT.” She said the faculty is not asking for anything unreasonable.
“We’re not asking for tons of things, but when it comes to compensation, we’re asking for something above status quo, not a lot, but just above status quo,” she said.
Maryland community colleges could not form faculty unions until 2021. HCC and Frederick Community College (FCC) formed the first community college full-time faculty unions in Maryland two years after the legislation passed.
FCC inked its first collective bargaining agreement earlier this summer, securing a 9.5% COLA.
Howard County Councilmember Deb Jung, who represents the district containing HCC, said she wants to see the contract done by the start of fall classes. Jung joined local leaders at Monday’s rally, including Maryland State Delegates Jessica Feldmark and Chao Wu.
“I am in full support of HCC’s faculty in their efforts to reach a negotiated contract. Fair compensation uplifts the students and promotes HCC as a model for democratic values,” she said.
Howard County Council Chair Liz Walsh’s office told Baltimore Fishbowl they hand-delivered a letter to HCC President Daria Willis before the rally.
The letter read, in part, “Howard Community College is in a strong financial position, with budget increases secured at both the county and state level and more than $30 million in reserves. Given this, it is troubling to learn that the administration’s bargaining team is refusing to meaningfully adjust faculty compensation.”
After chants and speeches, the union placed a letter on the door of HCC’s administration building. It read, in part, “We demand our administration will work with us in good faith to reach an agreement that gives faculty and students our fair share. Deliver us a contract, NOW!”
Some HCC administrators could be seen watching the rally from a distance.
“These are real bread and butter issues … not only are the full-time faculty behind us, but the community is behind us, the students are behind us, and we are not just going to go away,” Bruno said. “I think that if the college would get their head on straight regarding pay and benefits, then I absolutely think this contract could be done extremely quickly.”
Neither HCC nor Bruno commented on when a deal could be reached, both reiterating that negotiations are ongoing.
For information on the contract dispute and negotiation, visit the United Academics of Maryland website.
