Studer Community Institute

PSC labor dispute gains free speech element

November 16, 2014
/ Reggie Dogan
/ civiccon

An ongoing labor dispute at Pensacola State College has the administration, the faculty and the student newspaper embroiled in a swirling controversy over free speech and censorship. Faculty leaders say President Ed Meadows is trying to prevent student journalists from covering contract negotiations, pointing to a letter an outside attorney wrote to the faculty union. But Meadow denied accusations that he wants to stifle free speech. He said the real issue is the impropriety of faculty members talking to students about union issues and contract negotiations. “We have not told the student newspaper that they can’t print stories about the bargaining union,” Meadows said. “We told faculty that it was inappropriate to discuss negotiations with students.” At issue is whether The Corsair staff has the legal right to publish stories about collective bargaining negotiations between the administration and faculty. The conflict evolved into a free speech and censorship issue after it gained traction on a national stage, as blogs such as Gawker and Inside Higher Ed weighed in. Meadows said his comment that students could write about other things like student awards, basketball games … and “non-college things,’ was taken out of context. He said he was making a point about the kind of things the paper has covered in the past. He said he never meant that the paper should be limited to covering those types of stories. “In no form or fashion am I trying to censor the school newspaper,” he said. “I told (the editor) that you can print whatever you choose, but my hands are tied in discussing bargaining details with you.” The controversy started when the newspaper’s co-editor, Spenser Garber, called the administration for its side on the labor impasse. Meadows didn’t believe it was appropriate for faculty members to talk about labor matters with students and declined to speak with reporters. He felt that the faculty leaked information to students to get an upper hand in negotiations, but Garber said an outside source provided him information about the contested negotiations. Garber said his only gripe with Meadows is his accusation that faculty tipped the paper off to the contract negotiations. Otherwise, Garber also believes this matter has been blown out proportion. “Dr. Meadows has never said we can’t print anything,” Garber said. “Dr. Meadows is not a bad person and the administration is not inherently evil.” Meadows said that his biggest concern is the faculty involving students in their union activities surrounding contract negotiations. The conflict came to a head after PSC’s labor attorney in a letter accused the College Faculty Association of impropriety by looking for support in a labor dispute with the college after the student newspaper reported on the negotiation impasse. Citing the Florida Department of Education Code of Ethics, Michael Mattimore of the Tallahassee-based firm Allen Norton and Blue, said in the letter that union leaders were exploiting students for personal gain. Mattimore went on to cite a provision of state code that forbids unions from “instigating or advocating” support for union activities from K-12 and college students. What Mattimore failed to mention or overlooked is that the section of the code he cited had been overruled and didn’t apply in this case. Paige Anderson, PSC’s union faculty union president, said the lawyer served on the Public Employees Relations Commission and would have known about that section of the code. She said the letter was merely an attempt to intimidate them and stifle free speech. “If students want to present both sides, I don’t understand why the president doesn’t want to discuss the matter with them,” Anderson said. “It’s disturbing that he feels that students are incapable of thinking for themselves unless we tell them what to do.” Meadows said the purpose of the letter is to protect bargaining negotiations, not to squash public disclosure through the press. Meadows maintained that he understands and respects First Amendment rights and that any media outlet has the freedom to disseminate information. “My position is that I don’t personally feel it is appropriate to discuss negotiations and I will leave it to the faculty to decide what they want to do,” Meadows said. “It comes down to a matter being professional and doing what’s appropriate.” Anderson believes the issue comes down to power and control. She said the intimidation and threats is an ongoing pattern. She recalled an incident in June after the faculty voted down the labor contract. She wrote letters to the local newspaper and a higher education publication as well as sent a copy to the PSC Board of Trustees. Anderson said Meadows had an attorney draft a letter to inform her not to talk to the board, implying that she was trying to “bargain under the table” with trustees. “The tone of the letters seem to threaten my employment,” said Anderson, who has been teaching English at PSC since 1997. “In my years here, Meadows has been the most difficult to work with. There is little interest in working together to improve the college.”

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PSC labor dispute gains free speech element

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