University of Kansas faculty, staff announce effort to organize employee union
Faculty and staff with the University of Kansas have announced an effort to form an employee union in response to concerns over working conditions, including recent administrative proposals regarding tenure and a level of compensation that organizers contend is not competitive with comparable universities.
The proposed union, called United Academics of the University of Kansas, would represent more than 1,500 educators and researchers at the flagship campus in Lawrence and its satellite campus in Edwards. Organizers were beginning to collect union authorization cards and planning to organize a vote to unionize in the coming months, according to a news release from the American Federation of Teachers-Kansas.
In an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon, KU spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said university leaders “look forward to continued conversations with faculty and instructors about ways to move the university forward.”
Union organizers cited a recent attempt by KU to suspend tenure and an “over-reliance” on short-term contracts among the issues that prompted some university employees to begin the organizing effort. Also at issue are decisions concerning academic programs and declines in state funding for research.
Some KU professors pointed to the formation of the union as a means to strengthen the voice of employees in the decision-making process by university administrators moving forward.
“KU has long enjoyed high rankings for academics and recognition as a premier research university, but that status is at risk. Faculty and academic staff need a voice in decisions, especially when the student experience is at stake,” Lisa-Marie Wright, an associate teaching professor in sociology, said in a statement Monday.
Stephanie Meehan, a clinical associate professor, added that collaboration is “the best way to solve problems,” saying “that can only be accomplished when faculty and academic staff have a recognized union.
“With a union, we can advocate for what’s best for our students and the university as a whole,” Meehan said.
The United Academics of the University of Kansas would be formed under national labor organizations the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors. Those labor unions collectively represent about 300,000 faculty and staff at universities around the country.
This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 6:41 PM with the headline "University of Kansas faculty, staff announce effort to organize employee union."
