Teachers considering legal action, walkout
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer
More than two months after they put away their picket signs and ended their 14-day strike, Hawai'i's teachers still do not have a signed contract and their union is investigating the possibility of legal action or another walkout.
The contract is in limbo while the Department of Education and Hawai'i State Teachers Association continue to haggle over a clause that would give teachers with master's degrees and professional diplomas a 3 percent bonus.
The department is grappling with a price tag that has risen from $6.7 million to as much as $20 million as the two sides debate who is eligible for the bonus and whether it should be paid for one or two years of the contract.
After weeks of trying to resolve the dispute, a union official signaled yesterday that the HSTA will take more serious action if there is no solution by the end of next week.
"We have asked our legal counsel to review legal actions, including reissuing strike notices, court action or going through the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board," said HSTA Executive Director Joan Husted.
However, she stressed that the union won't take such steps "until such time as it proves to be the only avenue open to us. But we're not going to let them carry this on for the next month or two."
It is unclear if teachers could legally strike at this time because the labor relations board dismissed the impasse between the two sides when teachers voted to ratify the contract in April. A declaration of impasse is one of the conditions that unions must meet before setting a strike process in motion.
Adding to the pressure, the state has said it will not pay out on any of the contract while it remains unsigned. That already has delayed a $1,100 retention bonus that returning teachers were to receive in their July 5 paychecks.
Complicating the matter is the fact that the bonus is not part of the $111.8 million in state general funds appropriated by the Legislature for teacher pay raises this session. In an unprecedented move during negotiations, schools chief Paul LeMahieu offered to pay the bonus out of the existing DOE budget.
The Board of Education, which oversees the department's budget, has yet to take an official stand on the dispute. It has, however, agreed to use federal Impact Aid money to cover $11.4 million of the cost.
The board's budget chairwoman, Karen Knudsen, said board members are waiting for the two sides to resolve the disagreement and hoping that it does not escalate any further.
"There's a lot of anxiety, pain and anger building and, my gosh, we just went through all of that with our teachers," she said.
Correction: The Department of Education is paying for the bonus for teachers with master's degrees and professional diplomas. This article implied that the department was paying for the $1,100 retention bonus. That bonus is being paid for by the state.
