Reactions to state fact-finder report on Faculty Association contracts mixed

• Tweet
• 

Director of Public Relations Steve Smith said Central Michigan University looks forward to using factfinding recommendations to reach an agreement with the Faculty Association.

“From the beginning of negotiations with the Faculty Association, our goal has been to reach a collective bargaining agreement that is fair and equitable to all parties,” he said in an email. “With the recommendations of the independent, third-party fact-finder now in hand, we look forward to moving quickly toward reaching an agreement.”

Fact-finder Barry Goldman’s non-binding recommendations were released Tuesday.

FA President Laura Frey declined to comment but the FA bargaining team reviewed the report Tuesday evening.

Chris Benison, president of the Students for Faculty registered student organization, said he believes Goldman gave his best advice to both parties involved in the contract negotiation.

“My general impression is that Mr. Goldman did make an attempt to be as fair and impartial as possible given the circumstances,” the Mount Pleasant senior said.

Benison, who is married to Kathleen Benison, professors of Geology and Meteorology, said his reaction to the fact-finder’s report was “neither favorable or unfavorable.”

He said he is noncommittal because the report is non-binding and it will be up to the FA to review the specifics of the report.

“It’s my hope that the issuance of the fact-finder’s report will encourage the administration to reopen fair and equitable contract negotiations with the CMU FA,” he said.

Michelle Campbell, a representative of Students for Faculty RSO, said the factfinding report is very similar to what she expected, and her biggest concern is with the recommendations on faculty salaries. The Cedar Springs graduate student said she believes the fact-finder used faulty reasoning about Michigan’s economy to accept CMU’s proposal.

“There are some assumptions that are underlying this document that are very problematic and there is some logic underlying this document that is very problematic,” she said.

Just because the economy is struggling in Michigan does not mean that things are going to be bad for CMU, Campbell said.

She said Goldman assumes CMU is going to save unrestricted assets for a “rainy day fund” instead of paying the faculty, but CMU has not said anything about how the money will be used.

“My interpretation of that is he’s confusing correlation and causation,” Campbell said.