Organizing Update

CWA School Workers Push for Union Recognition in Kansas

Last week, approximately 70 school workers, including custodians, food service workers, and paraprofessionals, packed the Olathe, Kan., School Board meeting to demand school board members opt in to the Public Employee/Employer Relations Act (PEERA), a critical first step to forming a union. Potential members and activists were supported by CWA Local 6400, which was formed in Lawrence, Kan.. and represents public and private sector and non-profit workers.

The Olathe School District is the second-largest school district in Kansas, serving an estimated 29,000 children. CWA Local 6400 President Hannah Allison-Natale estimates the numbers of school workers at approximately 220 custodians and groundskeepers, 200 food service workers, and over 700 paraprofessionals, all of whom would be eligible to join the union should the school board opt in to the PEERA.

Worker organizers are optimistic, having had positive interactions with the current Superintendent of Olathe Public Schools, Dr. Brent Yeager, who has been favorable to unions in the past.

At the school board meeting, several workers spoke about the lack of pay raises, the need for better health and retirement benefits, and the general lack of respect for the work they do.

Click here to watch a short video from the school board meeting. You can reach CWA Local 6400 at their website or follow them on social media at X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.

 
School workers and supporters in Olathe, Kan., packed the Olathe School Board meeting to request the school board opt in to the Public Employee/Employer Relations Act, which will allow CWA Local 6400 to represent them in contract negotiations.