MA community colleges face wage crisis, union acts
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Community College educators from across the state launched a campaign aimed at the wage crisis.
The Massachusetts Community College Council, which is the union that represents the faculty and staff at the 15 community colleges across Massachusetts, is taking to billboards around the state to share that they are looking for more realistic wages.
Claudine Barnes, the President of MCCC, told 22News, 25 years ago, the MCCC agreed with the state to take on a new teaching load in exchange for wages that would keep up with 10 comparable states, but she tells us, that's not the case
She tells us, their workloads have increased, but their salaries have not significantly increased. 'We are currently, for full-time faculty, our average salaries are 48% behind the national average community college faculty salaries. And if you compare Massachusetts to California, which is the state with the closest cost of living to Massachusetts, we are more than 70% behind their average salaries.'
Barnes said they have a problem recruiting faculty and staff due to the wages compared to the cost of living in Massachusetts, stating that positions remain vacant or faculty leave after only a few years when they can't live on the salary.
They hope that by putting nearly 30 billboards up across the state and in communities with that community college, the public will realize the struggles and call on lawmakers to help.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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