The Inter Faculty Organization has rejected an offer from Steven Rosenstone, the chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, to enter into mediation over contract disputes.  The IFO has been embroiled in negotiations alongside another union, the Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF).  It characterized the mediation offer as “political” because the Chancellor announced his request to the state Bureau of Mediation Services publicly before alerting the unions.

The MSCF has not yet commented on whether they will participate in the proposed mediation.

The call for mediation follows announcements by both unions that they will not cooperate with a planned overhaul of the state’s college and university system.  The faculties at five state universities have voted no-confidence in Chancellor Rosenstone, a non-binding vote that nevertheless expresses a lack of trust between the Chancellor and the unions he must negotiate with on a regular basis.

IFO President Jim Grabowska stated that the “right” way to approach mediation would have been to approach the unions privately and work out the details of an acceptable mediation process, and only announce mediation when this had been accomplished.  By announcing it before securing agreements, the IFO feels Rosenstone is attempting to skew public opinion against the unions by painting them as unwilling to cooperate, pressuring them to agree to a mediation process without being able to contribute to its details.

The planned overhaul of the colleges and universities in Minnesota affects more than fifty separate campuses and the faculties they employ.