Members of the University of Kansas faculty union protested outside of Wescoe Hall Wednesday while the union bargaining team met with KU administrators for last-minute contract talks.

Negotiations resumed Wednesday afternoon and were expected to continue into the evening. The union won its election in April 2024, nearly two years ago, and is still without a contract.

The university gave its “last, best and final offer” to union faculty with a seven-day deadline last week. United Academics of KU members have tried meeting with administration to discuss KU’s most recent offer after two recent bargaining sessions were postponed. 

If the offer isn’t accepted, the university will move forward with filing with the Kansas Public Employee Relations Board to reach a formal impasse. If an impasse is reached, both parties would enter mediated negotiation. 

Lawrence City Commissioner Amber Sellers and Rep. Brooklynne Mosley, a Democrat who represents Lawrence in the Kansas Statehouse, spoke to protesters, encouraging them to keep fighting for their demands. 

“Keep up the fight,” Sellers said. “I hope administration will do what’s right because impasse is ugly. Know that I stand with you as you fight for what is right for you as well as the community.”

Mosley told the crowd she wants faculty to be able to afford to live in the community they teach in, which she said is possible with a fair contract. 

Ben Chappell, a professor in KU’s Department of American Studies and member of the contract negotiation team, said ahead of the rally that the union doesn’t believe they’re at the point of impasse. 

“The fact that they’re coming back to the table is really positive,” Chappell said. “I think that trying to end the process and say this bargaining is over was pretty disrespectful. We believe there’s a path forward to a contract.”

David Smith, a sociology professor at KU, said he hopes negotiations can reach a point where faculty is reasonably content.

“All the chancellor has to do is keep the faculty up with inflation,” Smith said. “It’s not a complicated issue.”

Members of UAKU marched across Jayhawk Boulevard to Strong Hall.

They delivered to the chancellor’s office a banner-sized petition that had hundreds of names written of those who had emailed the chancellor about wanting fair contracts and have heard no response.

Chappell said that those directly involved in education, like students and faculty, are losing resources while administrators receive raises each year. 

“The students, faculty, and teaching and research mission of the institution doesn’t seem to be the primary value. We want to see that change,” Chappell said. “We want to see administrators basically invest in having an educational institution where everybody can thrive.”

Chappell said that the university needs to prioritize those who are directly involved with students. 

“We see the fair contract as investing in education and investing in the people who deliver the core mission of the university,” Chappell said. “We really feel that a respectful discussion will end up with a fair contract. We actually think that that’s a win for the university as a whole.”

Erinn Barbomb-Peterson, a spokesperson for the university, said that “University of Kansas leaders welcome continued conversations with faculty and instructors about ways to move the university forward.”

Maya Smith, (she/her), reporting correspondent, has been with The Lawrence Times since February 2026. She was born and raised in Lawrence and is a journalism student at the University of Kansas. She works at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications as a communications assistant and has been a freelance reporter for the Kansas Reflector since 2024.

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