AFT Seattle Local 1789 says faculty at Capitol Hill’s Seattle Central College are walking out Tuesday as part of a “day of action” calling for higher wages, better support for part-time instructors, and more counseling and support for students as enrollment trends continue to plunge for community colleges.

The faculty union says the Broadway campus “teach-out” will take place from 10 AM to noon.

TOMORROW! #ThrivingWage #PrioritizeInstruction Join us for a Teach-OUT at North, South, and Central Colleges 10am-12pm, followed by a rally outside District Office 1-2pm (meet at Central 12:45). See you there! @AFTWA https://t.co/e9dnbnycvw

— AFT Seattle Local 1789 (@AFTSeattle) April 11, 2023

CHS reported here early last year on the Seattle Colleges system’s scramble for cutbacks and cost savings amid plunging enrollment. This month, the AP reported on the “reeling” community college system across the state as enrollment totals continue to drop as critics say the schools aren’t providing the education and skills students need to find jobs:

Community colleges are far cheaper than four-year schools. Published tuition and fees last year averaged $3,860, versus $39,400 at private and $10,940 at public four-year universities, with many states making community college free. Yet consumers are abandoning them in droves. The number of students at community colleges has fallen 37% since 2010, or by nearly 2.6 million, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

At Seattle Central, meanwhile, officials are continuing to plan for future growth with plans for a new Broadway tech building and EcoDistrict heating system as well as student housing development on E Pine.

Seattle Central student news site The Seattle Collegian reports the union and the Seattle system have their hands full pounding out an agreement on both a 2020-2023 deal and a 2023-2026 contract.

(Image: @VentiSolidarity)

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill was busy with another labor fight over the weekend.

Starbucks Workers United says “mixologists” who make coffee cocktails at Capitol Hill’s Starbucks Reserve Roastery walked out in an Easter Sunday demonstration over credit card tipping:

Starbucks began to implement credit card tipping late last year and recently announced a rollout at reserve and roastery locations this summer, but is withholding the update from unionized and unionizing locations, even though union workers have long requested the company implement credit card tipping at the Roastery.

CHS reported here on the unionization fight at the Roastery amid growing efforts to organize labor at some of the largest companies in the nation that experts say align with the pandemic, record job openings, and rising expectations for better pay and working conditions.

HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.