|
news
Impasse sought
after contract negotiations fail
By Tina Dhamija
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
The California
Faculty Association and the California State University system
declared an impasse Monday July 16, after yet another attempt
to negotiate a contract failed.
The meeting became
a springboard for the CFA and CSU's next course of action.
"This [impasse]
is the most recent decision," said Martin Fiebert, president
of the CFA at Cal State Long Beach. "After this, a mediator
is brought in to resolve differences. If a mediator doesn't
work, fact finders are brought in. And if that doesn't work,
the next step is our 'teach-in.'"
The "teach
in" is a plan for demonstrative action if no common ground
over contract negotiation can be found.
Preferring not
to label the demonstration as a protest, Fiebert confirmed
that the date is already set for Oct. 17.
Although the CFA
may be preparing to take such measures if an agreement is
not met, CSU is taking negotiations one step at a time.
"For right
now, we have the impasse," said Ken Swisher, spokesperson
for the Chancellor's Office. "A mediator is next, but
one has not been appointed yet. A mediator should probably
be appointed by the fall [2001] semester.... The goal is to
have a mutually acceptable agreement."
The mediator will
be appointed through the Public Employee Relations Board as
a broader line of communication for the CFA and CSU, Swisher
said.
If an agreement
is not reached through the mediator, a panel of three fact
finders, consisting of representatives from the CFA, CSU and
a neutral party will be appointed by the relations board.
On behalf of CSU,
Swisher said there are two issues up for negotiation.
"The main
issues here are the amount of the agreement and merit pay,"
Swisher said.
Fiebert, on the
other hand, views it as an issue of respect and maintains
that plans for a "teach in" on this campus will
involve both faculty and students.
"We [at the
CFA] believe that the Chancellor has a corporate model of
education," Fiebert said. "He views [education]
as more of a business. The trustees and the Chancellor have
not been bending, where else we've remained pretty flexible."
|
