6A
Monday, August 18, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Lawrence businesses try to work around UPS strike
College bookstores mostly unaffected
By Ann Premer
Kansan staff writer
The continuing strike by United Parcel Service workers across the country will not prevent most KU students from getting their books or back-to-school necessities. However, the strike, which is in its 16th day, may hamper students' search for new fall items at many local businesses.
"We were supposed to have received all of our fall merchandise Aug. 1, and we have seen little to none," said Chad Kemper, manager of Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 804 Massachusetts St.
Megan Guenther, manager of The Palace, a downtown gift shop, said the store no longer was receiving daily shipments. "We would definitely have more in the store right now if UPS wasn't on strike," she said.
Loni Hosking, showroom manager of Waxman Candles Inc., 609 Massachusetts St., said that the store had not been seriously
affected by the strike yet but that it still was waiting for fall merchandise to arrive.
The bigger problem would come if the strike was not resolved by the end of the month, she said. In September, Waxman puts out a new mail-order catalog, and orders from the catalog will be difficult to fill if UPS is not operating fully by then, she said.
Another problem the strike causes is the added expense of shipping with another company, merchants said.
"UPS is the least expensive," said Judy Paley, co-owner of Natural Way, 820 Massachusetts St. "If they have to use other carriers, it is two to three times as much."
Paley and other merchants said the extra expense in shipping would not raise their prices.
Most of the business managers said that they or their suppliers were trying to use other companies for shipping.
Joel Wagler, assistant manager of The Mailbox, 3115 W. 6th St., said that he had been shipping exclusively with Federal Express, Airborne Express and the U.S. Postal Service since the strike began.
"They seem to be holding up pretty well," Wagler said.
He said that most delivery companies were not guaranteeing next-morning delivery but still were guaranteeing next-day delivery.
Although the strike is affecting many area businesses dramatically, local college bookstores are not feeling the heat from the strike. Managers of textbook stores in Lawrence said that they had 80 to 90 percent of their books in stock.
The KU Bookstores in the Burge and the Kansas Unions, the Jayhawk Bookstore and the University Book Shop do not rely heavily on UPS. All receive the bulk of their merchandise through Roadway Package Systems.
"We don't feel much impact from it yet," said Mike Reid, manager of the Kansas Union Bookstore.
However, the managers said that the books that may be affected were those that were ordered late or from small publishing houses. They also said that students may have to be patient on reorders and that the complete status of the books would not be known until after the first day of classes.
Job fair, concert coming to campus
Free Concert
The Lied Center will present its second annual free outdoor concert at 6:30 p.m. Friday on the center's northeast lawn.
The concert will feature the Kansas City Celtic band Sunnush and Fear and Whiskey.
An information fair will be held before the event, from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Lied Center courtyard and on the east side of the building.
The concert is made possible by a grant from the Ernst F. Lied Foundation through the Lied Performance Fund of the Kansas University Endowment Association. The fund is intended to sponsor, support or subsidize performances. It also funds outreach programs and tickets to Lied Series events for people in the community who may not otherwise be able to attend programming at the Lied Center.
In case of inclement weather, the concert and information fair will be held inside the Lied Center. For more information call the Lied Center Box Office at 864-ARTS.
Student Job Fair
Student Employment Services will sponsor a student employment job fair from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. tomorrow on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union.
Students who would like to work on campus this semester can visit with representatives from 25 campus departments, ranging from the department of physics and astronomy to the Spencer Museum of Art.
Admission is free.
Student Employment Services is a part of Career and Employment Services, located at 110 Burge Union.
Part-time job opportunities can also be found at http://www.ukans.edu/~upc, which is the Web site maintained by the career center. The list is updated daily and provides information about both on-campus and off-campus employment opportunities for students.
GTAs and University agree to first contract
Final GTAC vote not yet taken
By Mike Perryman
KansanO staff writer
Graduate teaching assistants agree that the contract reached between the GTA Coalition and University of Kansas administration this summer was a positive step.
Susan Buehler, a GTA and member of the negotiating committee, said that the contract, which addressed such important issues as health care, campus fees, tuition waivers and wages for GTAs, was all but perfect. She said the coalition recognized the contract as a positive step and agreed that there was room for improvement.
"Everyone I've spoken with is extremely positive and excited about the agreement," she said. "This is the first contract with the University and a good one to build off of."
"We don't know what the health care plan consists of because the administration doesn't know what the plan consists of yet," Sheuemaker said.
Helen Sheumaker, GTAC secretary, said the contract was tentatively agreed upon, but it still awaited a yes vote from the GTA members of GTAC.
That vote is expected to take place in a couple of weeks when all of the GTAs return to campus. But no one knows the specifics of the contract.
The contract states that GTAs would be eligible for employee-sponsored state health care benefits, and the University would pay all of or part of required campus fees. A teaching assistant could save up to $180 per year.
Another part of the contract concerns salary increases. The University would be required to ask
the Legislature to ensure that faculty and GTA salaries increase at the same percentage.
The contract also states that tuition would be waived by the University for GTAs teaching two or more classes.
Buehler said the important thing was that the GTAs got something they sought in all the big areas: health care, wages, campus fees and tuition waivers.
Many of the GTAs were not in Lawrence at the time of the agreement. Some were busy with course work and teaching elsewhere during the summer.
"The important thing is that people stuck by the union and through painful negotiations in order to reach an agreement that GTAs can benefit from. There is always room for improvement in any contract, but it was important to take the first positive step." Buehler said.
Buehler is in her third year of the doctorate program in communication studies. She received her bachelor's degree at the University and her master's at the University of Maryland.
"Ireally wanted to be a part of the negotiations because of my experience at Maryland; I saw the great benefits and treatment the GTAs were receiving there, and the treatment of GTAs here just didn't seem right." she said.
Kip Curtis, a GTA in history and member of the union, was optimistic about the contract, but was also a little concerned.
"I am positive about what GTAC has accomplished," he said. "It took two years to sift through everything and get to the real substance of the negotiations. The contract is a good beginning and I'm not dissatisfied with it, but the limitations of the contract just go to show how little the administration is willing to give."
Curtis has played a large role in keeping members united and in touch after the contract agreement. As co-coordinator of the
GTA agreement
The following are parts of the proposed deal between the GTAs and administration:
Health Care: Board of Regents plans to ask the 1998 Legislature to allocate $1.7 million for the new health insurance plan.
- Wages: GTAs will receive the same average salary increase as KU faculty.
Grlevance: There will be a new procedure for resolving employer-employee disputes that will limit appeals to the department's chair and the school's dean
Campus fees: GTAs will have at least a portion of campus fees waived. The typical graduate student now pays $400 annually in fees.
Tution waver: The existing GTA tuition waiver authorized by the Legislature will be guarantee.
Action Alliance, a group formed last spring to keep GTAs involved and informed of GTAC and GTA related topics, Curtis talks to other GTA rally groups about events and developments and raises money for support of the Alliance and its purpose.
They are holding a home brewing competition north of Lawrence on Friday, Aug. 29 as a fund raiser for the Alliance. Members of the Lawrence community are urged to attend.
"It is an effort not only to unite GTAS and to raise money, but also to get the Lawrence community involved." Curtis said.
Tracy Floreani, a GTA in English studies and a member of the coalition from its beginnings, is pleased with the agreement.
"I am happy with the outcome, considering the negotiations took two years," she said. "The contract doesn't make our situation worse, it only makes it better."