NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2005
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FACULTY ASSOCATION TO PICKET OUTSIDE
COLUMBUS STATE FUNDRAISER
Members of the Columbus State Education Association (CSEA), which represents the college's 260 full-time faculty, will conduct an informational picket between 4:30 and 6:30 PM Tuesday outside the annual Taste the Future fundraising event at the downtown campus.
The action follows last week's threat by the college's Board of Trustees to implement new contract terms with or without the Association's agreement when the Autumn Quarter begins next week.
Teachers at the 21,000-student college have been negotiating a second contract with the college's Board since April. Board negotiators abruptly broke off talks during a mediation session September 2 and later presented Association representatives with a "Last/Best/Final Offer" to settle outstanding salary structure and health care issues.
The Association is questioning how the Board can continue to add to cash reserves while increasing tuition, imposing new health care costs on employees, and hiring more managers as the ratio of full-time faculty to students worsens.
Taste the Future, which is sponsored by Columbus State's Hospitality Management program, annually raises over $200,000 for student scholarships.