University Daily Kansan
Friday, February 16, 1973
7
KU Library Workers Petition to Unionize
By DIANE YEAMANS Kansan Staff Writer
A hearing to determine whether to grant a petition for a labor union by the University of Kansas library staff was scheduled for Thursday. Employer Relations Board Thursday in Topeka.
The Communication Workers of America, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, presented the petition on behalf of the library staff. The petition was received with support from the communications workers union.
A letter from the University rejecting the proposal accompanied the petition.
Robert Mitchell, library employee, said the date would be contested. An earlier date would be better for the library employees, he has seen many of them leave at the end of the semester.
With the date that late, it would be difficult to hold the union elections before the vote was taken.
THE BASIC ISSUES to be decided by the board are the size of the bargaining unit and the classifications that should be included in it.
The classifications, which would account for about 90 employees, are security officer I, library assistant, clerk-kypist I and keypunum officer II, secretary III and IV, research assistant, head of security and delivery, accounting clerk I and bindery supervisor.
Charles Oldfather, university attorney,
said the University opposed the bargaining
unit because it was too small. However, the
board has the power to determine the size of
the university.
The University prefers that there be larger and fewer labor unions instead of many small ones, he said, because this would make the processes of bargaining
ROBERT MITCHELL, library employee, said that by trying to force the campus unions into larger groups, the University, in effect, was trying to keep unions from forming. A campus-wide union would not be workable, he said.
To affiliate with the Communications Workers of America, Mitchell said, 30 percent of the proposed bargaining unit must sum card states their interest in the union.
Although the library staff, which is the largest single employee unit on campus, was able to recruit more than 30 per cent of the staff by hiring company signatures from all the civil service employees on the campus, he said. Because the library staff works in one building, he said, it is easier for them to communicate than it is for other employees scattered across the city.
campus
OLDFATHER SAID the University also opposed the petition because some of the classifications listed in the bargaining unit
were supervisory.
Mitchell said he did not believe that the second argument would hold up in the hearing because the supervisory positions named had only limited power. The only power these positions have is over student fees, and they were not without a librarian's permission, he said.
The need for a labor union was first realized with the salary cuts in 1971, when all University employees, academic and civil service, were denied raises. Mitchell said.
David Heron, director of the library system, said that although the University has received about $40 million amounting to about five per cent they were still about five per cent behind the other civil service employees of the state. This lag occurred during the cutback of funds in 1971, he said.
Security, particularly for night employees, needs to be strengthened, Mitchell said. Last spring, one woman employee was raped at gun point in the stacks and another in the courts will not consider physical safety an unreasonable demand, he said.
MANY COMPLIANTS have been filed concerning working conditions, Mitchell said. Each time the library staff has been notified that a librarian told that nothing could be done, he said.
There are not as many restrooms as the
University Council Gives Consent To Jayhawk Classic During Finals
After lengthy debate, the University Council adopted Thursday an amendment to a Senate Rule that will allow the Athletic Department to schedule the Jayhawk Classic basketball tournament during final weeks, as it has done for the past several years.
The University Senate Rules and Regulations had prohibited the scheduling of intercollegiate events during the mid-year exam period, with the exception of a nonconference home game on Saturday night at the end of the first exam week. The amendment also allows a game to be scheduled on Friday night.
The Jayhawk Classic did not conflict with final exams until the University in 1970-71 adopted the early-semester plan in which exams end before Christmas vacation.
The previous rule, adopted in March 1970, did not apply to games already scheduled, because events are often scheduled several years in advance. The Athletic Department continued to schedule the Classic during exams, however.
SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS opposed the amendment because students and faculty have had difficulty driving to their exams and parking because of game traffic.
The amendment, a recommendation by the University Senate Calendar Committee,
Some faculty members said they believed education was more important than athletic events and were in favor of prohibiting the playing of a game that conflicted with an exam.
Several students and one faculty member
Mortar Board
The deadline for applying for membership in Mortar Board, senior women's honor society, is Feb. 20. Those women who will be 1974 graduates and have not received a form may pick one up in the dean of women's office.
Clinton Coalition
The citizens coalition for Clinton Lake will have an organizational breakfast at 8 a.m. Saturday in the basement of the Virginia Inn. The purpose of the meeting is to set up discussions about how to enhance the coalfaction. For additional information call Claudette Smith at 843-3199.
disagreed, saying that basketball games
these final exam period during the
final exam period.
The council also enacted a proposal by the Organization and Administration Committee that the Senate Executive Committee (SenEx) be instructed to act as a clearing house for faculty grievances and suggestions.
During the course of discussion, council members said that SenEx could refer faculty members to the proper committee for implementation of their suggestions. SenEx now has the power to hear grievances and intervene. It probably would begin to assume greater role in publicizing grievances and methods of settlement.
Artist Series
Agnes Martin will discuss the hazards of the artistic discipline at 2 p.m. in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union. Her talk is part of the Hallmark Visiting Artist Series and is included in exhibitions of costuming and sculpture. The title of her speech is "The Perfection Underlying Life."
THE COUNCIL endorsed a proposal by the Organization and Administration of the Senate to elect the three student members of SenEx from among the 10 students on University Council. It present, only the Senate Members of University Council elect the SenEx members.
Natalie Rolph, Lenexa sophomore, who proposed the change, said after the nuzzling. "I was very impressed."
before the University Senate's next meeting.
The Student Senate will choose three council members to serve on SenEx, she said, although the proposal will not have been officially enacted. She said council members presumably would follow the wishes of the Student Senate.
The council agreed to refer a recommendation to Security and Parking that a teacher will be appointed faculty who have classes or exams to park free in zones for which they have stickers on nights of scheduled athletic events. The teacher must not be submitted at its March 15 meeting.
TWO CHANGES in the 1973-74 calendar were unanimously adopted by the council. The Calendar Committee had recommended the changes to make KU's calendar more accessible, and the calendar devised by the Council of Chief Academic Officers for all state schools.
A holiday during the fall semester that was originally scheduled for Columbus Day, Oct. 8, was moved to Oct. 22, Veterans Day. The council decided that orientation week for the spring semester would begin Jan. 14, one week later than originally scheduled.
THE AIR CONDITIONING breaks down in the summer, Mitchell said, and it often causes the temperature to drop.
The only other University, Heron said,
the knew to have a library union was the
University of Oxford.
law requires for the number of employees, Mitchell said. On some floors there are no restrooms, and employees must go to other floors, usually by elevator, he said. The elevators are locked Mitchell said, and there are not enough keys to go around.
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CONSUMER PROTECTION ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Consumer Protection Association (CPA) Board of Directors are responsible for initiating the association's consumer oriented projects, gathering resources for those projects and seeing that they are completed. In general, board members have ultimate authority over all of the organization's projects.
Saturday, February 17
The Johnny Rivers Show comes to
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Rice Memorial Auditorium Baldwin, Kansas
Any student, faculty or University staff member interested in becoming a CPA Board member should submit a short written statement to the CPA office. If you have any questions, please contact us at cpa@usc.edu.
Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. Wednesday, February 21. Interviews will be held Thursday, February 22 beginning at 17:00 a.m., at a place to be selected.
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