Union party loyalty might waver

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief

State lawmakers convene today to cast what might be among the Legislature's most politically charged votes in years.

•	Previous story: Hawai'i unions take hits as privatization bill nears approval

Bills to allow the state and counties to privatize public services at will, and to reduce the contributions the state and counties make for public workers' health coverage are up for final votes in the House and Senate today.

The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn Thursday from a 60-day session overshadowed by statewide strikes by University of Hawai'i faculty and public school teachers.

The controversial bills dealing with privatization and the health fund were a surprise development Friday as the session was drawing to a close.

Both measures have alarmed and, in some cases, infuriated the public worker unions, which descended on the State Capitol yesterday in a staged lobbying push before the final vote.

The unions papered the Capitol with memos and letters stating their opposition to the bills.

United Public Workers State Director Gary Rodrigues said the privatization bill will cost public workers their jobs, and the union hopes to return the favor to any lawmaker who votes for it.

"If anybody votes for the privatization bill, they can expect that UPW will no longer support them," Rodrigues said. "The (union) ties to the Democratic Party are going to be yesterday's news. We may as well get a Republican elected that will do the same thing."

Switching sides?

Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (Wahiawa-Waialua-Sunset Beach), said he takes those comments seriously, but wondered if Republicans would be more attentive to union needs.

"Can they do better? Republicans have talked about things that impact the unions greatly, much more than the Democrats, so what are you going to do? Does that mean you are now going to go to Republicanism?" Bunda said. "I think we have members who are still sensitive to the unions and their demands ... so I don't know if switching is going to really help his plight."

Lawmakers said both bills are needed to make government more efficient and to cut expenses. Both measures are supported by Gov. Ben Cayetano, who conducted a rare full-court press of his own, lobbying in briefings and personal visits to lawmakers' offices yesterday.

Lawmakers expect privatization to be approved today. Senate Bill 1096 would allow the mayors and governor to choose whether to allow the public worker unions to compete with private companies for the opportunity to provide public services, or to simply solicit bids from private companies and contract out the work.

Lay offs feared

Of particular concern to the unions are provisions that would allow the state and counties to lay off public employees if government decides to hire private companies to handle tasks the public workers had been doing.

The unions oppose the layoff provisions, but state and county managers say layoffs may be necessary.

Unless the state and counties can reduce the size of the public employee payroll, there is really no money to be saved by privatizing work that is now handled by government.

A survey of lawmakers late last year found a majority in the House did not want to allow layoffs of public workers when services are privatized, but sentiment has apparently shifted.

The same bill would also eliminate binding arbitration as a way of resolving stalled negotiations between the unions and the state and counties. This would affect the 23,000 members of the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, which agreed after its 1994 strike to resolve disputes through arbitration.

Randy Perreira, HGEA's deputy executive director, said some lawmakers support privatization because they think it will win them support in the business community. Many of the same lawmakers want to continue arbitration, but will vote to abolish it today because it is attached to the privatization bill, which they want to pass, Perreira said.

Health benefits

The HGEA opposes that bill as well as SB 1044, which would abolish the Public Employees Health Fund and replace it with an "Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund." State and county contributions to pay for public worker health benefits would be negotiated between the unions and the state and counties, and the trust fund would then buy the best it could afford with the money available.

That would be a major change from the current plan, where lawmakers spell out what benefits will be provided in law, and the state and counties then pay whatever premiums are required to offer those benefits.

Some estimates are the state would save $65 million the first year the employer-union trust fund is in operation, but union representatives scoff at those estimates.

Perreira said the bill would also eventually force retirees to pay for a portion of their retirement health benefits, which currently are paid entirely by the state and counties.

"I think they're going to see a backlash because our members are up in arms because now they're seeing how they're going to be affected," he said.

Lawmakers said the health fund vote will be very close in the Senate, and the bill could fail.