AUBURN, Wash. ― Faculty members are striking at Green River College in Auburn to protest cuts proposed by the administration.
The community college has proposed eliminating 11 programs and courses due to a $4 million budget shortfall. The Green River United Faculty Coalition says some professors could lose their jobs, though college spokeswoman Catherine Ushka says the cuts are being negotiated through collective bargaining and nothing’s been finalized.
The union has voted three times that it has no confidence in the leadership of college president Eileen Ely.
The college says it must eliminate some programs because of state budget cutbacks and declining enrollment, but the striking instructors say it’s using state cutbacks as an excuse for gutting the union, which is part of the American Federation of Teachers.
The strike began Monday and is expected to last three days.
