When "Facts" Become Petulant

As the unions kicked off the official opening of Strike Headquarters this afternoon, the Chancellor sent around a new missive proclaiming "facts" about the history of these negotiations.  Was someone jealous there was a party that she was not invited to?  Here's the text of her recent email; I'll have comments for each of her "facts" after the break.

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FA: Negotiate, or we file "Right to Strike" notice

The Faculty Association is making some moves, albeit in a fairly low-key way so far. A new "fact sheet" entitled "Our Bargaining Rights", the first of a planned series of such items, notes that the FA's Department Representatives Council has given FA President Randy Hughes the authority to file a "Notice of Intent to Strike". Such a notice would not, despite its legal title, in fact obligate the FA to strike, but would remove the last legal hurdle to a strike, and thus would count as "more serious action" in the language of the fact sheet.

I say "would count" as more serious action because the FA has not yet in fact filed this notice, choosing instead to give the administration an opportunity to return to the bargaining table and engage in good faith bargaining "right away". I have heard not the slightest hint of any such negotiations taking place, however, which presumably means that the FA may file this notice fairly soon.

"On Chancellor Cheng's Ultimatum"

The FA has released a document making its case that the FA negotiated in good faith while the administration failed to do so. To my not entirely unbiased mind it provides the clearest account of the breakdown in negotiations currently available. I would be curious to hear the administration's response. On Chancellor Cheng's Ultimatum

A smoking memo?

I've seen the memo the administration sent the FA announcing the ultimatum.  Some office staffer made an honest mistake.  The memo was dated March 28th, the first day of mediation.  That is, the administration didn't wait until the end of the second day of mediation (March 29) to decide to declare an impasse; they had already decided on day one--at the latest.  They had also already decided that we had rejected their ultimatum before they had made it.  This is what you do when your goal isn't an agreement but an impasse.  Here's the memo in full.  Click on it to enlarge it.  

Administrative Ultimatum Rejected by Faculty Association

Headlines in the press (like the one in the Southern and in the administration press release) read rather differently than the title of this post, saying something like "Faculty Reject Administrative Offer".  But what the administration has presented is a "last, best, and final" offer.  "Ultimatum" is Latin for "last, best, and final offer".  (Trust me, I teach Latin.)  Both sides will put out more details on their positions, and you'll likely find things to agree and disagree about with what both sides say.  But the single most important thing to keep in mind is that the administration is now putting forward demands, while the FA is putting forward proposals.  That is, the FA is willing to negotiate in good faith, still.  The administration, if it was ever willing to negotiate in good faith, isn't willing to negotiate at all right now.  They are only interested in imposing their own terms.