CSN FACULTY SENATE OVERWHELMINGLY URGES CSN TO HONOR BARGAINING AGREEMENT

On Friday Sept 14, CSN Faculty Senate voted by a margin of 28-3 to urge CSN to honor all settled tentative agreements.

NFA President Robert Manis explained to Senate how in August, CSN had approached NFA with an offer to end the bargaining impasse by offering an approximate $1000/ person bonus which could be split into two parts, along with raises in summer pay,  B+ contracts, overload pay, and clinical hours.

 However, hours before NFA could consider this proposal, CSN stated it was withdrawing from an agreement settled a year ago to allow market hires a path to tenure for the reason that it modified NSHE code.  Revoking a settled TA is a virtually unprecedented violation of labor law.  The reason is that if a previously settled tentative agreement is allowed to be revoked, all the others (of which CSN and NFA have settled 15) could be held hostage for leverage on other issues, lab hours being one of the major ones outstanding

 Moreover, NSHE TItle 4, Chapter 4 Section 13.2-3 specifically allows the modification of code by collective bargaining contracts. Furthermore, prior to making the agreement, NFA showed how market hires were paid less than faculty and in fact were, in many cases, not offered the chance to choose the tenure track option, which is itself a violation of code.

 The significant issue, however, is whether any agreement, once settled, can be held hostage for leverage. In fact, what then would prevent CSN from renouncing their latest offer if this is allowed to stand?