Teachers in a Kansas district take a stand against union, vote to decertify

VERMILLION, Kans. — Teachers in a Kansas school district made a bold statement last Friday when they voted to decertify their union.

goodbyeThe teachers from Vermillion Unified School District 380 voted by a margin of 27-9-1 to end collective bargaining representation by the Kansas National Education Association, reports: CJonline.com.

The Vermillion teachers joined their de-certified peers in Kansas’ Deerfield school district, who voted to: drop: the NEA last June.

Garry Sigle, who is executive director of the Kansas Association of American Educators, a non-union professional organization for educators, worked with the teachers in their efforts to decertify.

He wrote via email to CJonline that “the unaffiliated group of teachers that I had been working with won the election over the KNEA affiliated group.”

When the news organization followed up by phone, Sigle said that all Vermillion teachers will now have a say in collective bargaining talks, rather than only those who pay KNEA dues getting a vote.

The process had been underway for quite some time, which is no surprise considering that it is substantially harder for teachers to get out of a union than it is for them to join one.

Karen Godfrey, president of the KNEA, said this was not unexpected.

“It’s always a right that they have to do that,” Godfrey said. “And we will still have members in Vermillion, and we’ll provide membership opportunities to those members.”

This post was used with the permission of Joe for America.

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