LOCAL OPTION

WHEREAS, certain employees of counties, cities and nonprofessional employees of school boards have sought the assistance of the Kansas Association of Public Employees and AFT in obtaining improvements in their working conditions through organization and collective bargaining; and

WHEREAS, the only framework of Kansas law under which said employees may negotiate with their employers by and through a recognized employee organization is the Public Employer Employee Relations Act (PEERA); and

WHEREAS, Kansas law permits nonstate units of government the option {K.S.A 75-4321(c)} of deciding whether to be governed by PEERA; and

WHEREAS, this provision of law is commonly known as the "local option"; and

WHEREAS, the existence of the local option is plainly counter to the intent of PEERA to promote harmonious and cooperative relationships between the government and its employees:

RESOLVED, that the AFT and the Kansas Association of Public Employees undertake all necessary means to have repealed the local option. Furthermore, that it assist employees of nonstate units of government to elect those individuals sympathetic to the adoption of PEERA by the nonstate unit of local government until the repeal of the local option is accomplished.