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Final Tally Gives Victory to Kansas AAUP Members
By Hans P. Johnson
On April 28 the Kansas Public Employee Relations Board certified the Fort Hays State University chapter of the AAUP as the bargaining agent for faculty members at the campus. The certification followed the completion of the tally of ballots cast by FHSU faculty in an election held last October.
The final count was delayed because the FHSU-AAUP chapter and the university administration had challenged a total of seventeen ballots, causing them to be held in abeyance and leaving the outcome of the election in doubt. But on April 3, the parties agreed to resolve the situation by counting the disputed ballots. The final vote was 87 for the AAUP and 81 for no agent. Approximately 90 percent of the faculty voted in the election.
AAUP chapter president Dale McKemey, a professor of management, expressed his delight at the outcome. "We are happy finally to have resolved the question whether or not the faculty wished the AAUP to represent their interests in negotiating wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with the Kansas Board of Regents. That answer is yes." McKemey reports that contract negotiations will begin later this summer.
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