CCSF fires back after faculty union alleges impasse

City College of San Francisco administrators called on the faculty union to return to the bargaining table Friday after the union declared an impasse and sought to send the negotiations to mediation.

Officials with the American Federation of Teachers Local 2121 said Thursday the negotiations were at an impasse and they planned to picket at the college’s Ocean Campus Friday morning.

But administrators disputed Friday that they were at an impasse. College administrators said in a statement:

“Impasse happens when you have reached impasse on all key issues. … We are not at impasse. We ask the AFT to return to the bargaining table immediately.”

EARLIER City College faculty union declares impasse.

The negotiations with the American Federation of Teachers Local 2121, which represents 1,500 teachers at the school, have been going on for 10 months and the faculty has been without a contract for 6 months with little progress, according to the union.

The teachers are complaining their pay has dropped to 3.5 percent below what they were in 2007 and the college is planning to cut classes.

The college nearly lost its accreditation in recent years because of financial and governance problems. The school is currently in restoration status with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and has to submit a report on its progress in the fall.

Union president Tim Killikelly said in a statement that the college’s leadership has “allowed negotiations to languish, making no significant movement toward providing faculty fair compensation.” “This is one more sign that this administration’s priorities do not line up with quality education and the needs of students and faculty,” Killikelly said.

The declaration of an impasse will move the negotiations to a mediation process by the Public Employment Relations Board. The union had threatened to strike last month but cancelled strike plans before it began, saying negotiations had improved.