NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2005
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FACULTY ASSOCATION FILES UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE CHARGE
AFTER COLUMBUS STATE TRUSTEES BREAK OFF NEGOTIATIONS
The Columbus State Education Association (CSEA), which represents the college's 260 full-time faculty, has filed another unfair labor practice charge against the college's Board of Trustees after Board negotiators broke off talks September 2 and unilaterally declared that negotiations had reached an impasse.
In a complaint filed with the State Employment Relations Board (SERB) September 9, the Association alleged that the Board engaged in bad faith bargaining when it requested a mediation hearing and then refused to negotiate.
Instead, the complaint says, Board negotiators attempted to present a "last/best/final offer" that will impose the Board's terms on September 13, with or without the Association's agreement.
Faculty negotiators denied that the parties were at impasse and refused to accept the offer, which Columbus State's vice president for human resources faxed to the Association later that day. The administration agreed yesterday to extend its deadline for response until September 23.
CSEA President Steve Abbott said that the trustees have created an unnecessary crisis.
"The Board is attempting to avoid the give-and-take of real negotiations and bully our teachers into swallowing unacceptable changes in health care and salary structure," Abbott said. "By unilaterally declaring impasse, the Board is mocking the idea of negotiation and, we believe, violating the law."
A fact finder's report issued July 25 stated that the parties had not engaged in meaningful negotiations on salary and benefits issues prior to the fact-finding hearing. Columbus State trustees unanimously rejected the report at its July 28 meeting.
Abbott said that teachers' negotiators presented new compromise proposals during a September 2 meeting with a SERB mediator.
"The Board's negotiators requested a meeting to explore 'new ideas,' and CSEA agreed in the expectation that both parties would work to reach a compromise solution," Abbott said. "Instead, our proposals were met with stonewalling and an ultimatum that suggests a serious abuse of the mediation process."
In an August 25 ruling on another unfair labor practice charge, a SERB panel found probable cause to believe that the Columbus State Board had violated state law when it imposed a new health care plan for all employees while still in bargaining with CSEA. A hearing date on that complaint has not been set.
Columbus State faculty set up informational picket lines at the downtown campus August 31 and September 1 to gather support from students and other college employees. Leaflets distributed at that time charged that mismanagement of the college has harmed both students and employees.
"The Board is ignoring or refusing to address serious questions about administration decision making, use of resources, and employee morale," Abbott said. "All of this is affecting our students, and forcing a confrontation with teachers is only making things worse."