State to appeal strike ruling
| • | Students consumed by strike talk at UH |
| • | Substitutes aren't the answer |
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer
The state today will appeal a decision by the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board that will allow 322 special education teachers to join the picket line along with thousands of Hawai'i's public school teachers in the event of a strike Thursday.
As the union continued talks with the state last night on a new, informal proposal, it greeted the board's decision not to declare the special education teachers as "essential workers" as a small victory.
But state Attorney General Earl Anzai said his office will ask the board to reconsider.
"Basically, the concerns expressed by the board were met in our original submission," Anzai said.
Anzai also said he is concerned about the effect of the ruling on the Felix consent decree, a federal court order that requires the state to improve services to children with special needs.
The labor relations board had given provisional approval for the 322 "essential workers" last month and asked the state to produce a detailed plan showing how the teachers would be used to protect the health and safety of Hawai'i's most seriously disabled special-needs children.
In yesterday's ruling, board members indicated that the plan fell far short of what they requested.
"The (Board of Education's) plan as submitted instills very little confidence that the (Department of Education) is capable of adequately ensuring the health and safety of special education needs children anticipated to attend school during a teachers' strike," the board said in its unanimous ruling.
The news of the ruling was greeted with cheers at the Hawai'i State Teachers Association office.
"The 'essential workers' decision is perhaps more gut-wrenching in that people perceive it as pitting one group of teachers against another," said HSTA Executive Director Joan Husted. "I'm sure those special education teachers will be very relieved that they won't be in the position of having to cross the picket line."
Despite that victory, the union is awaiting a more serious ruling from the board, which could ultimately lead to a strike being declared illegal. The state has said the union bargained in bad faith and engaged in intimidating tactics by planning to photograph those who cross the picket line.
The board could rule on those complaints as early as today.
And while teachers gathered for a silent vigil outside Washington Place last night, union and state negotiators sat down to discuss a proposal put forward by the union.
"We put an informal proposal on the table that tried to deal with some of the non-cost issues," Husted said. "Again, we're trying to hunt for a way to meet our teachers' objectives and meet the state's objectives in terms of how much it's going to cost."
Neither side would discuss details of the proposal but were last reported to be $100 million apart.
Gov. Ben Cayetano said the fact that the union had come forward with a proposal was a "step forward."
However, Cayetano said that if he were a parent, he would be preparing for a strike.
"We hope to avert that, but if the minds can't meet, then you have a strike," he said.
Advertiser Staff Writer Kevin Dayton contributed to this report.
