Jeff Edwards, chair of the CCC Board of Trustees, concurred with the idea of consolidated bargaining units.

"It would make more sense to have one group to negotiate with, because they're so similar," he said.

The college president, however, acknowledged Burritt's decision and said, "there's no question, we would comply with the law of the State of New York."

During the fall, approximately 850 students, staff and community members lent their support to the adjuncts' cause by signing petitions calling for CCC to not spend money on an appeal of a part-time faculty bargaining unit.

"We have not yet filed an appeal, but we're in the process of discussing that course of action," DeCinque said.

NYSUT organizer Trudy Rudnick said money the college would spend on legal counsel fighting an appeal of the PERB decision would divert resources away from students and create a "difficult situation and environment that's not good for anybody.

"Legal fees are huge," she said. "The students deserve the college to pay attention to them."

DeCinque, however, looks past any short-term legal investment and considers the future long-term expense of negotiating two union contracts.