ON CAMPUS
Some hints for passing union's test
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
Attention candidates, political aspirants and legislative wannabes: Get ready to do some paperwork.
As you prep for the November elections, try to get past the first hurdle.
No, it's not fund-raising, primaries or deciding which side of your face looks best on TV. It's the questionnaires labor union leaders are sending you.
The Hawai'i State Teachers Association, the union representing the state's 13,000 public school teachers, papered the Capitol with its "applications" recently.
Legislators received this not-so-gentle reminder via e-mail recently: "Completed application and questionnaire MUST be received by HSTA by January 25, 2002."
Anyone who wants the HSTA's endorsement has to fill out a six-page application. And because many Hawai'i candidates rely heavily on the fund-raising and campaigning help of the unions, I'm sure many are wondering how to respond.
Here are some hints on answering a few of the questions:
Q: What are your top three legislative priorities, and how will you implement them?
Hint: One of your priorities, preferably the top one, should be education. Party affiliation doesn't matter. But if you don't think education is important or don't want to give schools more money, you won't be endorsed.
Q: If there were a conflict between your obligation to the leadership and your obligation to your constituents, how would you vote? Explain.
Hint: Clearly the answer is that you should vote the way your constituents (also known as teachers) want you to vote. You shouldn't say you will be loyal to your party leadership, which, at times, has been known to let teachers stay out on strike for nearly a month.
Other parts of the questionnaire sound like a high school civics test. For example:
Q: What is your position and understanding of "right-to-work" legislative proposals? Explain.
Hint: Turn to the HSTA's "Blueprint for Public Education" (conveniently also attached to the endorsement application) for a complete cheat sheet of what right-to-work means. Also, note that as unions, HSTA and other groups do not want Hawai'i to be a "right-to-work" state.
Other questions are more difficult.
Q: What is your position on preventing budgetary cuts in public education? Explain.
Hint: This is a tough one, as the governor has warned the Department of Education that it will lose $7.1 million this year and $14.4 million next year. Even if you say you would prevent a cut, you're going to have to back it up with your votes this session, and take money away from another state agency. Blaming the Felix consent decree is in vogue among your colleagues.
As there many other unions in Hawai'i, you can probably expect to receive more "applications" in the mail soon.
About 25 percent of Hawai'i's 500,000 jobs are unionized, according to the Center of Labor Education and Research at the University of Hawai'i. The figure makes Hawai'i one of the most heavily unionized states. The national average is about 14 percent.
And remember: the effectiveness of these questionnaires is debatable. Last time around, after a lengthy discussion with its membership, the HSTA endorsed Gov. Ben Cayetano. See how much good it did them?
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
