Post updated at 5:23 p.m. Friday, March 6:
After nearly two years of bargaining, the University of Kansas faculty union has reached a tentative agreement with administrators, union leaders announced Friday.
Union reps and KU administrators negotiated for more than 20 hours during the last two days.
The agreement would establish a median raise of 13% for several hundred workers on the lower end of the pay scale; a pool of money to address salary compression and reward professional performance; improved job security for nontenured faculty, a path to promotion for lecturers; safeguards for tenure and promotion; and protections for academic freedom and shared governance, according to a news release from the union’s national organization, the American Federation of Teachers.
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The university gave its “last, best and final offer” on salary increases to the union with a seven-day deadline last week. KU said if the offer wasn’t accepted, the university would file a petition declaring an impasse in negotiations. But the two sides were able to secure their first agreement after the marathon bargaining sessions.
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“Every step of the way we have seen the power of collective action, united across rank, position and title, in order to strengthen our institution and deliver the best possible education for our students,” Marsha McCartney, a lead negotiator for the union and an associate teaching professor in psychology, said in the release.
Members of United Academics of KU have held a series of rallies during the last two years of bargaining, most recently this week.
“Faculty and academic staff have won a landmark agreement that will create ripples across our state,” said Katie Warren, the Kansas president of the American Federation of Teachers.
UAKU, the university’s faculty and academic staff union, won its election in April 2024 with 86% of academics voting in favor.
KU spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said the university and UAKU had reached tentative agreement on “all 37 articles of the collective bargaining agreement.”
“The next steps in finalizing the contract include a ratification vote by UAKU and a review by KBOR for final approval,” Barcomb-Peterson said via email. “This accomplishment represents enormous dedication and time spent by everyone involved in the negotiation process and sets the foundation for continued partnership and support for faculty moving forward.”
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
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