Update March 26: The faculty contract negotiations have officially reached an impasse. A state mediator will be appointed within the next two weeks. The Faculty Association and the District will not set a date to begin renegotiating until a mediator has been appointed.
The Citrus Community College District filed a request for a mediator with the Public Employment Relations Board March 19 and is awaiting a decision from the board on March 26 to enter mediation stages.
“It is not entirely clear what the terms for a new agreement the Faculty Association will insist on, which is why the district thinks mediation will be helpful to get clarity to produce an agreement that will be ratified,” Director of Human Resources and the district’s chief negotiator Robert Sammis said in a phone interview.
The PERB will determine if the Faculty Association and District are at an impasse and if so, will then appoint a mediator at the end of this week. Chief negotiator for the Faculty Association and automotive tech professor Dave Brown said in a phone interview a specific timeline will be available by early next week once things are finalized.
“The District invited us to jointly declare impasse; our side decided not to do that because we still have flexibility in our positions,” Brown said. “The District has offered no flexibility in their position, so if they think they need the assistance of a mediation, we are happy for them to do that.”
Mediation dates will not be set until the declaration is approved and a mediator is selected, wherein both parties will meet and see if an agreement is reached.
“There is some confusion as to whether the Faculty Association is insisting on a $5,000 one-time bonus payment as part of the agreement,” Sammis said. “If they insist upon that, it would be an issue that further separates us from reaching an agreement.”
The position of the faculty according to a memo sent to all full-time faculty by Sammis is a 2% on-schedule salary increase effective January 2021, a $5,000 one-time bonus payment and re-opener dates in the contract to discuss salary in October 2021 and 2022.
In a board meeting on March 16, the district said it would “not move from their last, best and final offer,” which had been proposed in November. The offer would not allow for a re-opener in the contract to discuss a salary increase in the next three years.
The District position, according to the memo, is a 2% on-schedule salary increase effective upon ratification of agreement; expires Dec. 31 2023, unless modified by a subsequent agreement, no additional bonus beyond the $1,500 paid in spring 2021 per the memorandum of understanding, and no re-opener dates.
“The main thing for me is that this is a huge disappointment because the district’s team, in fairness to them, did some really good work to resolve (the) other issues (like the MOU),” Brown said.
