The AFT executive council unanimously approved a partnership plan with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to merge their respective bargaining units representing executive branch state employees in Kansas. The new jointly affiliated local union will be known as the Kansas Organization of State Employees (KOSE).

"Our agreement with AFSCME marks an historic occasion," said AFT president Edward J. McElroy. "A jointly affiliated AFT-AFSCME local union for Kansas state employees means that we'll have greater resources in place to address the statewide needs of Kansas state employees and the people they serve."

The executive council's endorsement followed Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' March 2 proposed reorganization and consolidation of the bargaining units representing some 14,000 executive branch state employees. Specifically, the governor recommended consolidating 42 geographically-based bargaining units into 16 broad occupational units made up of state employees performing similar work. The Kansas Public Employee Relations Board is expected to issue its decision on the proposed bargaining unit reorganization and consolidation in coming weeks.

Steve Porter, director of the AFT Public Employees department, said the merged organization will strengthen the voice of state employees, who have been fragmented by the current bargaining unit structure. Unit consolidation also will enable the union to focus on specific occupational issues and bring attention to statewide issues, dramatically improving the collective bargaining system in Kansas, Porter said.

Under the agreement, KOSE members will have full membership rights in both AFT and AFSCME.

"With the establishment of a meaningful collective bargaining structure in Kansas, state employees have the opportunity to play a greater role in the decisions made at their workplace," said McElroy. "With greater participation and involvement, we can address the issues necessary to improve the workplace, public services and state employee salaries and benefits."

The Kansas Association of Public Employees (KAPE), the AFT's long-standing statewide local, approved the merger March 3. KAPE will remain the sole bargaining agent for employees in non-executive branch bargaining units currently represented, including employees working for the City of Topeka and the university system.

"Progress toward more meaningful collective bargaining in any state is important to public employees across the country," said Bruce Ludwig, chair of the AFT Public Employees program and policy council. "Whether we come from states where public employees have strong collective bargaining rights or from states where those rights are limited, the progress in Kansas is helpful to us all. Clearly, this is a major step forward in the effort to organize and bring representation rights to all public employees." [Kathy Walsh, Steve Porter]

March 29, 2007