'No money' for union raises, state says
| • | Chart (opens in new window): Public worker union contract talks |
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Hawai'i has been here before — negotiating contracts with public employee unions during a time of fiscal hardship — but with serious budget cuts in the offing plus the ever-increasing threat of war, it may be tougher all around this time.
Gov. Linda Lingle says the state has no money for public employee raises, echoing her predecessor, former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who scuffled with the unions over the issue throughout his second term.
It's still too early for either side to predict if talks will break down like they did in 2001, when public school teachers and University of Hawai'i professors went on strike. And both sides generally refrain from speaking to the media about what is on the bargaining table.
But state chief negotiator Ted Hong warned that if the country goes to war and the economy plunges, the administration will likely have to re-evaluate Lingle's promises not to lay off any workers or cut their benefits or pay.
"The revenue forecast, the budget cutting that's going to follow, that is going to be substantial," Hong said. "All those things that the governor was committed to, in the event of war I'd have to say that all bets are off. If people haven't had agreements signed in ink and put to bed essentially we're probably going to have to re-evaluate all those things."
The contracts for about 57,000 state and county public workers expire June 30. Four collective bargaining units, including state nurses, correctional officers, firefighters and police officers, are either in arbitration or awaiting an arbitrator's decision. These four units are barred from striking.
Lingle has said the state has no money for public worker pay raises except for "first responders and (workers) involved in homeland security" — namely, those four collective bargaining units.
The other nine collective bargaining units — including teachers, principals and blue- and white-collar workers and supervisors — have reached a statutory impasse and are in the process of beginning mediation.
Hong said, however, that the state and those unions are "still actively engaged in negotiations."
If a settlement is not reached in mediation, unions can prepare for a strike. They cannot strike until their current contract ends, which means the earliest they could go on strike is July 1.
Lingle has said that while the state will not offer those bargaining units pay increases, other issues, such as working conditions, can be discussed.
"We're going to need to find other ways for them to improve things for their members beyond just pay," she said.
Hong said all 13 collective bargaining units are seeking pay increases, but that union leaders have so far been understanding about the state's position that there is no money for salary and wage hikes.
"The negotiations have been very cordial, courteous," Hong said. "They don't like what we're telling them in terms of the finances and the potential for pay increases, but they also understand that we're not doing this just to game-play them.
"We have constantly kept them updated about our finances. I said, 'Look, if you think that we have money somewhere that we can use and tap for salary and wage increases, let us know. We'll gladly take a look at it. We extended that invitation to them and to this date none of the unions has gotten back to me about that."
Some leaders in the House, which approved its draft of the state budget last week, also expressed doubts money will be available for raises.
"The governor has indicated that she will not raise taxes, terminate workers or use the Hurricane Relief Fund this year to balance the budget," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki, D-22nd (McCully, Pawa'a). "Given those parameters it may be very difficult to include salary increases this year."
House Labor Committee Chairman Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), agreed.
"This is different from the last round of negotiations with Gov. Cayetano," Oshiro said. "This is post-9/11. This is the age of terrorism and global unrest, and I think the effects on the economy are real and they're measurable and they're having an effect on us right now."
The possibility of war and what its effect would be on the state economy makes things very unclear for the unions and the state, said Bill Puette, director of the Center for Labor Education and Research at the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu. There also may be a tendency to defer decisions on some contracts until next year when the state's economic situation may be more certain, he said.
"I think public workers are just like any other member of the public. They're concerned about the threat of war and they don't want to press when the country and the state are in a time of crisis," Puette said. "But it just seems like we're always in a time of crisis when bargaining comes up."
Puette also talked about the danger in making concessions to employers during a crisis and never seeing benefits or pay restored when the crisis is over.
"The ultimate solution that's provided for under the law is good- faith bargaining," he said. "I've seen situations where the unions and management have been able to negotiate through crises in good faith because there was a trust that when the crisis was over they would be restored to a former level and if possible go forward from there."
Among those scheduled for mediation is the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, which represents about 13,000 public school teachers. HSTA spokeswoman Danielle Lum said the union is seeking salary step increases and 3 percent raises for top-scale members. But pay raises are not the issue right now, she said.
Negotiations between the state and the teachers have been contentious, with the teachers arguing the state wants to take away professional certificate and doctoral pay differentials, install one single-track year-round school calendar and eliminate teachers from decision-making on school budgets.
The state has said initiatives are aimed at increasing quality instructional time, increasing efficiency and saving money.
"The issue is all the regressive stuff that the (Board of Education) has on the table," Lum said. "It's more than money, it's much more than money, because we recognize that the state is in trouble financially."
As for the raises, Lum said: "We'll get there when we get there.
"We're not talking money right now. We put a salary proposal on the table because that's what you do in formal bargaining and that's the only reason we put a salary proposal on the table right now. We're more concerned with these regressive postures that the Board of Ed is taking."
Randy Perreira, deputy executive director of the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, said state nurses are seeking raises but declined to say whether HGEA's six other collective bargaining units were asking the state for pay hikes. Perreira also declined to respond to the administration's position that there is no money for pay increases.
Perreira did say the union wants to address health coverage issues.
"Certainly ... our interest is to seek to preserve the level of benefits that members receive and, of course, to ensure that benefits are made available to employees at the most reasonable cost," he said.
Both Perreira and Hong said they are optimistic the contracts will be settled by the end of the legislative session. The Legislature, which adjourns May 1, appropriates the money for cost items in union contracts.
"I'm optimistic there will be no interruption in public services come July 1," Hong said.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
Correction: A previous version of the chart with this story contained incorrect membership numbers for nine units of the United Public Workers Union and the Hawai'i Government Employees Association. Also, in two cases the status of contract talks was in error.
