SAN MARCOS : Palomar Faculty Votes Down Union

Palomar College faculty members voted overwhelmingly against collective bargaining, keeping the community college one of a few left in the state without a union.

The vote, tabulated Thursday, was 555 to 259 against the union, with 69% of the college’s 1,194 full- and part-time faculty members voting.

Of 106 community colleges in California, only six do not have union representation for faculty, said Diane Fernandes-Lisi, a union representative for the California Teachers Assn./National Education Assn. The organization was defeated in the election.

Life sciences instructor Candice Francis said she was thrilled with the results.

“This speaks to the fact that we have a great deal of confidence in the way things are done,” she said.

Mario Mendez, a physical education instructor who helped spearhead the union drive on campus, said he was disappointed but would not contest the election or plan another union drive anytime soon.

“I thought we’d get more support,” he said. “We didn’t make our case, and we’re going to have to live with that.”

Mendez and other union supporters worked three years to generate enough interest to call the election.

Music instructor Joe Stanford said he looked forward to the campus settling down after the recent disputes surrounding the union issue.

“It’s been a real divisive thing with the faculty,” he said. “It’s upset a lot of things this fall.”

Fernandes-Lisi said the union may have been defeated because many part-timers were afraid the vote would be made public and they would face retaliation.

Mendez said he doubted that was the case.