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Campbell teachers OK intent to strike
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
CAMPBELL
A federal mediator soon will determine the date of the next meeting between the Campbell Education Association, which unanimously approved an intent- to-strike if necessary notice Wednesday, and the Campbell Board of Education.
“The board has been in contact with the mediator. Our goal is to get a meeting set up to resolve this dispute,” said schools Superintendent Tom Robey. “It’s kind of in her hands at this point. We’d like to meet with the mediator and try to resolve our differences so we can return to normalcy.”
The 93-member union representing Campbell City Schools teachers and the board have been in contract negotiations since mid-March. The union’s contract expired July 1.
In early May, a federal mediator was brought in to assist after both parties declared an impasse. Two sessions with the mediator did not yield agreement on unresolved issues, however. The board then declared that it had reached an ultimate impasse and issued its last and best offer June 28, said Colleen Joss, union spokeswoman.
“The board ceased all negotiations at that point by implementing a contract on the CEA, which is a very aggressive tactic,” Joss said. “That’s them saying, ‘We’re done talking. We’re done negotiating.’”
Joss said the CEA since has urged the board to rescind its contract implementation and return to the bargaining table.
The union would “love to go back to ... as soon as possible,” she said. This time, though, the union “would like to see some shared sacrifice between administration and teachers,” she added.
“This time, we’re just looking for it to be fair,” she said. “We’d just like to see a collaborative working relationship between the administration and the teachers union, and have those negotiations with fairness and equality start again.”
Joss said no single issue is responsible for the difficulties involved in the past few months of negotiations. Some are financial, she said, but noted that the biggest challenge is that no tentative agreement has been reached on anything.
Robey, who repeatedly emphasized that he and the board are “willing and ready to get back to the table to get this resolved,” said finances in the school district, as well as state contributions, are part of the issue.
If the union does authorize its bargaining team to issue a 10-day strike notice, it will be sent to the State Employment Relations Board.
“A strike is a very real possibility, but what we are hoping for is for them to open up negotiations,” Joss said. “We still have a good month, month-and-a-half before school. The sooner we start, the more opportunity there is to begin school on time.”