Rhode Island College faculty are paid 30 percent less than their peers at the state’s larger university, and RIC students have no access to the free college program offered at the state’s community college. So faculty union members are bargaining for the common good: They’re demanding better access to free tuition for all Rhode Island students in public higher education, improvements to the school of education, and pay raises that will at least bring RIC faculty up to the national average of their peers.