KC teachers union to air radio ads to spur labor talks

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/933432.html

By JOE ROBERTSON
The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City School District teachers union is taking to the airwaves to spur 10-month-old labor negotiations.

Four radio ads expected to air beginning Monday will mark another first for teachers who have been working without a contract for the first time in 40 years.

Judy Morgan, president of the Kansas City Federation of Teachers & School-Related Personnel, said she still hoped for an agreement by the winter break, but that was looking increasingly unlikely.

The union spent several thousand dollars on the radio spots with support from the national office of the American Federation of Teachers, she said, to keep the public’s attention.

This is the first time the Kansas City union has tried media ads in a labor struggle, she said.

The ads hit on several points of contention. The union has objected to the district giving principals more discretion in how to use teachers’ time, reducing teacher planning time. The district has taken away contractual limits on how often classes could be interrupted by announcements over a school’s public address system.

FULL story at link.