Talks over teacher bonuses resume
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
Seven months after the end of the teachers strike, attorneys for the teachers union and the state yesterday returned to the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board to resolve a lingering contract dispute.
The two sides remain at odds over a 3 percent bonus for teachers with master's degrees and professional diplomas and whether it was intended to be paid for one or two years.
More than 6,400 of Hawai'i's nearly 13,000 teachers were eligible for the so-called "P-track" bonus at the end of the last school year. The estimated cost of the bonus has ranged from $6 million to $10 million a year.
But months of talks and forced mediation have failed to resolve the dispute, leaving the decision on the April contract to the HLRB's three-member panel.
Testimony will likely continue into mid-November as the state argues that it orally agreed to pay the bonus for one year only, but that the union staff changed the agreement while typing up the contract. State officials did not notice the change until one week later.
The union says the agreement was always for two years and is asking the board to rule that the signed contract is the valid one.
Joan Husted, chief negotiator for the HSTA, testified that the bonuses were never included in discussions of unresolved issues between the state and union. "I thought P-track stopped being an issue prior to the strike beginning," she said.
Ruth Dalisay, a math teacher at Kalakaua Middle School and a member of the bargaining committee, also testified that as far back as negotiations in 1999 and 2000, she could not recall a time when the differential was offered as only a one-year bonus.
The months-long dispute delayed payment of a $1,100 retention bonus and other negotiated raises until the governor in September agreed to implement the contract with the exception of the disputed professional bonus.
The HLRB will continue hearing arguments Thursday and Friday. If necessary, the contract dispute will also be heard on Nov. 13, 19, 20 and 21.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at 525-8084 or jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com
