A state commission has decided it will wade into the labor drama that's pitted many Green River College faculty members against the school's administration.
In a time of tight budgets and tense contract negotiations at the Auburn community college, the state's Public Employee Relations Commission will appoint an examiner to handle a faculty complaint that school administrators' proposal to lay off several faculty union leaders amounts to an unfair labor practice.
Administrators have called their proposal to eliminate Green River's auto body, carpentry and geographic information systems programs as a necessary cost-saving measure. The next state budget, school administrators said, could leave the college with a $4 million shortfall. To cover the gap, $891,000 in cuts must come now, school administrators concluded.
But the faculty union countered that the cuts are retaliatory, since the auto body and carpentry programs' only full-time faculty members are the union's president and treasurer.
The Unfair Labor Practice Complaint
According to a letter dated June 1, state employee relations commission decided three of the faculty's allegations merit a closer look:
-- that the administration made coercive statements to the union president;
-- that the administration failed to bargain in good faith;
-- and that specific job cuts were retaliatory.
The commission, also known as PERC, noted that third allegation — that administrators "targeted job positions held by the union's bargaining team members" -- would require more information before a closer examination is launched.
The next steps: PERC has asked the union has to provide more information by June 22. After that, PERC will issue a "preliminary ruling" spelling out which allegations will go to an examiner. The college would then have another three weeks to file its own response. After that, the examiner could preside over a PERC hearing to rule on the case, though there are other options that would result in a mediated settlement.
The Budget
Meanwhile, on Monday, the faculty union offered a plan to cut $841,000 from Green River's budget — just short of the level of cost-cutting administrators say is necessary — while preserving the auto body, carpentry and geographic information systems programs.
Union president Mark Millbauer said those three programs can trim their budgets by roughly $200,000. Millbauer says the union's proposal includes leaving unfilled full-time positions vacant, not fielding sections of courses that are under-enrolled and trimming travel and printing budgets.
Green River College spokeswoman Allison Friedly said the administration is reviewing the union's proposal and determine whether it's viable. She said a final decision of whether the auto body, carpentry and geographic information systems programs could come as soon as a week from now.
The Contract
Union leaders and administrators also met Monday afternoon for a contract negotiation session that was scheduled to run late into the evening.
The faculty union has been working without a contract for more than a year.
