Columbia, CA…What follows is a press release from Yosemite Faculty Assosiation…”YFA writes to correct the misleading and false representations about the state of negotiations and YFA’s anticipated strike in the District’s November 21st statement. With regards to negotiations, the District’s “last, best, and final offer” continues to demand unsustainable class size increases–to 45 students per class. The Union is pushing instead for a pedagogically-driven process with class size determined by faculty and administrators together.

On salary, the District, unlike YFA, has not provided any good faith compromise proposals. Instead, it has only offered to lock faculty into a bad deal for even longer. The District initially offered 6% over three years. Now, after nearly a year of doing nothing, on Wednesday evening it offered 8% over four years. The District seems to think faculty and the public cannot add or divide—and will not realize that it has offered the same bad deal, just over a longer time.

This proposal is regressive. It will keep faculty at the bottom of the cohort of 10 similar college districts negotiated by the District and union. Faculty are an embarrassing 22% below the median of this cohort. It’s clear why, as faculty have received less than 1% on average over the last 10 years.

In the sake of resolving these negotiations, however, faculty have proposed significant compromise offers to the District for far less than the 22% increase required to get to median of the cohort. We also proposed a slower implementation timetable, making it even more desirable for the District.

After receiving the District’s regressive offer from yesterday for 8% over four years, or 2% per year, YFA immediately responded with another good faith counter, another compromise. We keep trying. YFA had previously made compromise proposals to the District during factfinding in September and again on November 14. The District’s statement of course ignores these three compromise proposals from YFA.

In addition, the District’s statement misconstrues the upcoming strike as resulting from these negotiations. Not so. The strike is motivated by the District’s repeated Unfair Labor Practices—-its illegal threats, through its Board resolutions, to fire faculty for engaging in lawful union activity and its bad faith, regressive bargaining. Not once has the District offered to talk with YFA about the causes of this strike to resolve these issues.

The District is also refusing to respond to State Senator Cathleen Galgiani’s letter demanding a written explanation for the YCCD’s bad-faith negotiations and faculty bullying tactics, nor has it ever apologize to faculty for these illegal threats.

YFA’s door always remains open for good faith negotiations and to work with the District to address these unfair labor practices, but this requires the District to participate as a good faith partner. We continue to look forward to that day.

YFA Executive Board
Date: November 22, 2018