Tag: Kansas

Kansas GOP suspends punishment of party members amid loyalty crackdown

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — The Kansas Republican Party’s chairman said sanctions against party members were suspended due to appeals filed by people who were to be penalized for signing a petition leading to placement on November ballots of an independent candidate for governor.

Mike Kuckelman, who leads the Kansas GOP, said the party’s loyalty committee met Wednesday to consider challenges to punishments sought by top party officials. Approximately 40 party members holding leadership posts signed Sen. Dennis Pyle’s petition, an act viewed as evidence these officials provided direct support to someone other than GOP gubernatorial nominee Derek Schmidt.

Amid demands by the accused for due process, Kuckelman said the loyalty committee temporarily suspended disciplinary action so cases could be handled individually in the future.

The Kansas GOP leadership had voted Nov. 9 — one day after Schmidt’s loss — to chastise signers of the Pyle petition. The objective of the Republicans’ loyalty committee is to strip offenders of party leadership posts.

“In light of the number of appeals, the loyalty committee cannot properly hear and decide each appeal,” Kuckelman said. “It is not possible to assemble the executive committee to hear each appeal, and render a decision on each appeal in a timely manner, without risk of unfairly disrupting county reorganization meetings.”

Schmidt lost the Nov. 8 race to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who secured 49% of the vote to Schmidt’s 47%. Pyle received 2% and the Libertarian Party nominee got 1%.

Kelly’s margin of victory was 20,886 votes, the Kansas secretary of state said. Pyle, who ran a conservative campaign that denounced Kelly and Schmidt, received 20,057 votes.

In 2007, the state Republican Party moved to form a loyalty committee after losing several prominent elections, including an attempt to block reelection of Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

The concept was inspired by Kris Kobach, who was chairman of the Kansas GOP, and Christian Morgan, who was the state party’s executive director.

“The motive behind this is, ‘Let’s make sure Republicans are supporting Republicans,’” Morgan told the Associated Press 15 years ago. “If you want to hold a party post, you should at least be supporting Republican candidates.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansas-gop-suspends-punishment-of-party-members-amid-loyalty-crackdown/

University of Kansas faculty, academic staff prepare for vote on forming collective bargaining unit

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — Faculty and academic staff at the University of Kansas are organizing ahead of a secret-ballot vote on formation of a collective bargaining unit to represent 1,500 people on the main campus in Lawrence and a satellite campus in Johnson County.

The union would be known as the United Academics of the University of Kansas and be affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors.

One factor contributing to the movement at KU was approval by the Kansas Board of Regents of an expedited process enabling the six public universities in the system for dismissal of tenured faculty and other academic employees.

KU officials declined to make use of the policy, but Emporia State University relied on it to terminate 33 employees.

“KU has long enjoyed high rankings for academics and recognition as a premier research university, but that status is at risk,” said Lisa-Marie Wright, an associate teaching professor in the sociology department. “Faculty and academic staff need a voice in decisions, especially when the student experience is at stake.”

Berl Oakley, a distinguished professor in molecular biosciences, said a labor union would strive to “retain outstanding teachers and researchers that provide the quality of education our students deserve.”

The KU union would represent full-time and part-time tenured and non-tenured-track faculty; teaching, research, clinical and online professors; lecturers; curators; librarians; scientists who conduct grant-funded research and other categories of faculty and academic staff. Graduate teaching assistants at KU unionized in the mid-1990s after winning a dispute about whether they were state employees.

Issues of concern among the KU faculty organizers included the policy on firing tenured faculty as well as reliance on short-term contracts for teaching faculty, stagnant wages and a decline in state funding of the university.

In Kansas, faculty unions exist at Pittsburg State University, Fort Hays State University and Johnson County Community College.

More than 300,000 faculty and staff at universities across the country belong to unions affiliated with AFT and AAUP.

In California on Monday, thousands of teaching assistants, researchers and other workers in the University of California system went on strike to amplify demands for pay increases. The students and employees involved are represented by the United Automobile Workers.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

See more at https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/ku-faculty-academic-staff-prepare-for-vote-on-forming-collective-bargaining-unit/

Statewide virtual job fair set for Wednesday

Gov. Laura Kelly has invited job-seekers and employers to participate in the upcoming Statewide Virtual Job Fair, hosted by KansasWorks, from 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17.

“Every day businesses are moving to and growing in Kansas, but to succeed long-term, they need talented employees,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “I encourage Kansans to take advantage of the resources KansasWorks offers for job-seekers and sign up to attend this virtual job fair.”

Registration is required in order to participate in the event, regardless of previous participation. The Virtual Statewide Job Fair portal features a Job Seeker Training video, a list of participating employers, and channels for attendees to register and log in.

“We have KansasWorks workforce centers in 27 cities across Kansas,” Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “These centers are ready and available to assist job-seekers with the necessary tools to finding employment with companies that are ready to hire.”

Workforce development teams are dedicated to providing assistance with the job search process, creating effective resumes, job training, job placement and more, according to a spokesman. Job-seekers are encouraged to dress professionally, as employers might request to engage in a video interview on the spot.

Candidates can participate via any digital device. Any individual with a disability may request accommodations by contacting their nearest workforce center at 877-509-6757 prior to the event.

Go to https://app.premiervirtual.com/events/bd6cbe13-d2cd-4161-a27d-4d52f2edf663/kansasworks-virtual-statewide-job-fair-november-16-17 to register for the Virtual Job Fair.