Students consumed by strike talk at UH
| • | State to appeal strike ruling |
| • | Substitutes aren't the answer |
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Staff Writer
The prospect of a faculty strike cast a pall over the University of Hawai'i system yesterday, greeting returning students with a post-Spring Break hangover of apprehension.
Negotiations between the state and faculty union remain stalled, and if no settlement is reached by midnight tomorrow, a strike by 3,100 faculty members could cripple higher education in Hawai'i.
"There's been no movement on either side," said J.N. Musto, executive director of the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly.
Negotiators with the union and the governor's office will meet again today at 9 a.m., but professors and students are bracing for the worst.
"At this point people are thinking they are going to strike," said David Cleeveland, professor of sociology at Honolulu Community College.
Faculty members are attending picketing classes, and five support staff members from the National Education Association, the umbrella group of 2.6 million union educators, have begun arriving in Hawai'i to help UHPA organize a 10-campus strike.
The strike has become a campus obsession. "The first two questions when I talk to students are, 'Are we really going to have a strike?' and 'How long is it going to last?' " said Sally Pestana, an associate professor at Kapi'olani Community College and a member of the UHPA Board of Directors.
Sandy Degala, 21, a political science senior at Manoa, said she has projects to complete and papers to write before the end of the semester. "There's no way you can concentrate," Degala said. "When you have this hanging over your head, it's hard to get motivated."
The Associated Students of the University of Hawai'i has threatened to file a class action lawsuit against the state on behalf of 45,000 students if a strike lasts so long that the semester is canceled.
Attorneys have approached ASUH with the idea, and President Chris Garnier said he is concerned about students who will have to pay back financial aid, bypass plans for summer jobs or delay the start of graduate school.
"We back our faculty, but we're concerned that both sides are forgetting about the students," Garnier said.
The union and the state have reached an impasse over issues of pay, workload and benefits, and talks have been stalled for months.
The state's latest offer gives instructors a pay raise of 7 percent over two years, plus 3 percent in merit pay, but cuts fringe benefits such as health care and retirement credit during the summer months. Community college instructors would receive raises of $2,035 and $2,720 over two years, plus 1 percent in merit pay.
The state's chief negotiator, Davis Yogi, said he could not comment yesterday because of a media blackout on information about the negotiations. Gov. Ben Cayetano has said the state can't pay the amount the faculty union asks for without cutting other services in the state.
The union is asking for 12 percent over two years, plus 0.5 percent in possible merit raises each year. It also wants to cut the community college teaching load from 15 to 12 credit hours per semester. The union has been without a contract for more than two years.
UH President Kenneth Mortimer said the state's proposal to cut fringe benefits in the summer months has galvanized the faculty.
"It's a very serious issue and one that would set the university back substantially in recruiting and retaining faculty," Mortimer said.
Professors would have to work four years for every three years they would receive in retirement, and they would have to pay the full cost of their health care in the summer.
Keoni Mattson, 21, a sophomore in electrical engineering, drives 30 to 45 minutes from Waimanalo every day to attend classes at the Manoa campus and is frustrated with the administration's plans for the strike.
The university has instructed Mattson and other students to go to class anyway during a strike to see if their professors show up. If 10 minutes go by, the students can assume their professor is on the picket lines and leave.
"Having to come all the way here for 10 minutes and pay $3 for parking is really inconvenient," Mattson said.
