Palomar faculty union files unfair labor charges against district
By: NOELLE IBRAHIM - Staff Writer | ∞
SAN MARCOS ---- Palomar College's faculty labor union this week charged the district with unfair labor practices, blaming the administration for stalled negotiations that have left 1,100 professors without a labor contract after 16 months at the bargaining table.
"We're tired and we're fed up," said Shannon Lienhart, co-president of the faculty union, which represents roughly 300 full-time professors and about 800 part-timers. "We want to be in the classroom. We want to be teaching. We want to be done with this."
The union asked the state Public Employment Relations Board, in unfair labor charges filed Monday, to ensure that Palomar College negotiates in good faith with the union. The board's review of the filing is expected to take 60 days. The board could either dismiss the charges or issue a complaint to the district, said Les Chisholm, division chief in the board's office of the general counsel.
John Tortarolo, vice president of human resources and the district's lead negotiator, said the district does not agree with the charges and is waiting to hear back from the board to file a position statement in response.
"We will vigorously defend ourselves and contest all the charges," said Tortarolo.
Tortarolo said Thursday he would not discuss the specifics of the charges in the media.
If a complaint is issued, the board would try to help the two sides reach a resolution through informal mediation, Chisholm said. If no agreement is reached, an administrative law judge could hold a hearing.
Lienhart said she hopes that filing the charges will force the district into treating the union fairly and honestly.
The union alleges that the district violated the state's Educational Employment Relations Act, which aims to improve personnel management and employer-employee relations in public school systems, during contentious discussions over compensation.
Among the complaints outlined in the charge, the union accuses the district of using delaying tactics, providing false financial projections and going back on previously reached agreements.
A key sticking point in the negotiations is what share professors will get of more than $7.7 million in extra money the college received from the state during fiscal year 2006-07, including $5 million in one-time state funds and $2.7 million in state equalization money designed to reduce the gap between wealthy and poor districts, said Lienhart.
The union presented administrators with a three-year compensation proposal in April based on a district-prompted study that compared salaries of professors at Palomar with those of 15 other colleges of similar size and enrollment in the state to identify and adjust disparities, said Lienhart.
Based on the study, entry-level faculty salaries at Palomar were among the lowest 20 percent in the state and salaries for faculty with a Ph.D.s were low as well, she said.
The union proposed a compensation offer that would use a portion of the equalization money to help make pay, which is based on professors' education and experience, more equitable for those groups, she said. The adjustment would also help make Palomar more attractive to prospective faculty, said Lienhart.
She said that instead of discussing the merits of the proposal, the district presented a second salary study and then took all discussion of the study off the table. In addition, the district did not present the union with a counterproposal until five months later, she said.
Since then, Lienhart said the district has continued to stall. Last month, the district removed discussion of the fiscal year 2008-09 from the bargaining table and parts of a deal for 2007-08, though the parties had originally agreed to a three-year contract at the beginning of the process, she said.
"We agreed to (cost-of-living adjustments) provided by the state all three years and to negotiate beyond that," she said. "By the time we end negotiations, we'll have to walk right back in and negotiate for a third year."
The union planned to present another proposal to the district Thursday afternoon, Lienhart said.
Contact staff writer Noelle Ibrahim at (760) 740-3517 or nibrahim@nctimes.com.
More Stories
Advertisement
jvc wrote on Feb 14, 2008 11:37 PM:please give this faculty all that they ask for in their new contract!
we must never have a disgruntled faculty that is feeling underpaid
because the consequences of that will end up costing more in the long run!
Roberto wrote on Feb 15, 2008 8:03 AM:Palomar’s Executives are at it again. Seemingly every year they claim there is NO money and there are contentious labor negotiations. Last year the Executives only relented and provided employees with COLA monies when they wanted their Prop-M bond passed. The Executives changed their tune over the course of a week when it became plain the employees would not support the Bond measure unless they had their COLA. Now the same Executives are again claiming there is no money and next years budget is bleak. Have the Executives taken any measures to restrict spending in the face of bleak finances? NO! In spite of various urgings, there is no restriction on new hires, no restriction on purchasing, and no restrictions on Executives perks such as car allowances, electronics allowances, and expense accounts to cover meals and such. It is odd that the Executives can suddenly settle with other employee groups on campus when employees walk off of the College’s accreditation process. Again a threat is necessary to force the Executives to do the right thing and grant COLA to classified staff and middle level managers. Even then the Executives manage to taint this concession. Middle level managers will only get their COLA when a settlement with the Faculty is made. The Executives are apparently holding one employee group hostage to negotiations with another group. Why? To save face with the Faculty and say “administrators” are not getting COLA until you do. Guess this stunt will make the Executives seem heroic in the eyes of the middle lever managers - not. Of course, the Faculty contract will be settled eventually. It will just be longer and more difficult then it has to be as the Executives seem to fight just for the sake of fighting. Maybe the College’s accreditation can teeter on the brink ala Mira Costa or can descend to the administrative chaos seen at Southwestern before the Executives decide to make labor peace. Seems to happen every year - sad very sad.
Vista Watchdog wrote on Feb 15, 2008 7:53 PM:With MiraCosta on probation, palomar might want to be careful what they do here. The word is out that tension bewteen faculty and staff can put your Accreditation on shaky ground. As Palomar has a reputation for having the lowest paid Faculty in the region (granted MiraCosta has the highest paid Faculty in the Nation for CCs), there appears to be a long history of tension on this subject between these parties. Better watch your Ps & Qs on this one Palomar (this is directed to both Faculty and Staff). You'd hate to findyourselves in the same boat as your neighbor downthe street!
First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.
Today's Stories
Advertisement
Videos
Advertisement