Two union representatives arrested for trespassing at HACC Lancaster

• By Olivia M. Miller/LNP | LancasterOnline

This story is published in partnership with our sister newsroom LNP | LancasterOnline. For more coverage, click here.

Two Pennsylvania State Education Association staff members were arrested Wednesday for trespassing on HACC’s Lancaster campus.

The union employees, who had set up a table with information supporting HACC’s unionized faculty members, refused to leave when asked by campus security. East Lampeter Township police were called to remove them.

“We have every right to be on campuses talking to faculty,” said Kathy Sicher, president of HACCEA, the union representing faculty. “We’re part of the campus, whether HACC likes it or not, we’re part of HACC.”

The representatives – Lauri Lebo Rakoff, region advocacy coordinator, and Adam Weber, union representative – were only there to provide information about the union, according to Sicher. When they were asked to leave, they refused because they believed it was their right to be there.

“I’m not quite sure why HACC has a problem with that,” Sicher said. “We weren’t disruptive, it was peaceful, it’s non-confrontational, it’s just informational, it’s part of democracy.”

Lt. Rob Eachus, of the East Lampeter Township police, confirmed two people were arrested for trespassing at HACC Lancaster campus Wednesday afternoon. Both individuals were released soon after.

HACC faculty voted to unionize in April 2022 as a PSEA affiliate. At the time, HACC President and CEO John J. “Ski” Sygielski said, “The faculty have made their decision, and we respect that … We will work with the PSEA to reach a fair and equitable contract from both the College’s and faculty’s standpoint.”

Chris Lilienthal, spokesperson for PSEA, said the last time union representatives were at a HACC campus was on Aug. 22 in York. The same two union employees were present, and it went off without a hitch.

“We believe HACC management made a very bad decision to involve the police and limit protected activity in violation of state labor law,” Lilienthal said. He added their representatives had a right to be there, and them being forced to leave amounts to a violation of the Public Employee Relations Act.

HACC administrators issued a statement calling the presence of the union representatives on campus a “deplorable and disgraceful” publicity stunt.

The statement said HACC received a request from the union on August 21. On the 28th, HACC said it informed the union that it could not set up a table at the Lancaster campus. The statement referenced a January 2017 Shared Governance Policy that states, “External entities may not utilize College facilities for the purpose of promoting or advancing political, religious or other special interests.”

HACC did not respond to questions about the union’s assertion that the same employees distributed information on the York campus last week without interference.

State Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El, a Lancaster Democrat who supported the HACC faculty’s unionization effort, said he can’t think of any reason why faculty and their union representatives shouldn’t be allowed to share information about a recognized union in that union’s workplace.

“I’m confused, frankly, about the process by which it came to pass that it was deemed a good idea to have these folks arrested or to interfere with the faculty … ability to spread information about their union,” he said.

The HACC statement said PSEA’s decision to send representatives to the Lancaster campus was “unfortunate” and was done with the intent of forcing an arrest to generate media interest.

“We have received reports that some students were traumatized by seeing armed law enforcement officers making arrests on their campus during the first week of fall classes,” HACC said. “This publicity stunt has caused, for some of our students, irreparable harm and could result in some students deciding to withdraw from their HACC courses.”