Bus negotiations could affect other unions

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

As O'ahu Transit Services and the Teamsters union try to reach an agreement to end O'ahu's bus strike, negotiators who will deal with public worker unions seeking pay raises and benefits next year may be watching the bus situation closely.

Union leaders said they see little, if any, bearing between TheBus negotiations and their own situations in large part because the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 represents more than 1,300 employees of OTS, a private entity contracted by the city.

But chief state labor negotiator Ted Hong believes any pay or benefit raises made by striking O'ahu bus workers may have a "domino effect" that would give ammunition for public labor unions who want similar gains when they return to the bargaining table next year.

"To me, it's the dirty little secret that nobody's ever talking about," Hong said. "It's on everybody's minds in the public sector unions, but nobody's going to admit it. And I'll say it frankly, yeah, everybody else is watching from the employer side and the union side."

City Council Chairman Gary Okino agrees.

"I would be speculating, but I would think that if we gave in, because we don't have money, the other unions are going to say, 'Hey, you gave them a raise, you better give us a raise, too,' " Okino said. "In that sense, I don't think OTS can give in. That would have the potential of putting us in a bad situation with the other unions."

The negotiations for the other state and county workers will occur against a backdrop of government leaders trying to balance their budgets and most of the public worker unions already having deferred receiving wage and benefit increases.

All 13 bargaining units that represent more than 56,000 state and county employees had contracts that were to expire June 30. Of those, only three have settled completely while one is waiting an arbitrator's decision.

The other nine have agreed to contract extensions or partial settlements that allow them to negotiate for raises separately. Several union leaders cited the need to ensure the government would pick up increased costs in health insurance while acknowledging the inability of the state to pay for raises for the time being.

But those decisions do not preclude unions, namely the Hawai'i Government Employees Association and the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly, from continuing to negotiate for wage increases before their contracts are scheduled to conclude next June 30.

Unions expect little impact

OTS, which operates TheBus, has offered its employees a three-year contract which gives them no raises or benefit increases in the first or second years, with a "reopener" allowing the union to seek wage and pension increases for the third year later.

The union proposal accepts no wage or benefit increases the first year, but seeks 50-cent-an-hour increases in both wages and pension benefits in the second and third years.

While OTS is a private, non-profit company, roughly two-thirds of its operations are subsidized by the city. The rest comes from bus fares.

"The question is: Is there really any money?" Hong said.

If the Teamsters win pay raises, "it's going to create a lot of expectations," he said.

But J.N. Musto, executive director of the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly, said he is not paying rapt attention to the bus negotiations and does not feel what happens at that bargaining table will affect his union's position when it seeks wage and benefit increases next year.

UHPA members "don't deserve money because there should be more or less money going to a bus driver," Musto said. "If that's the only argument I have, we're dead. My professors need more money because we are demonstratively so far behind our peer institutions and remain there ... that's why we deserve the money."

Not giving UHPA members a raise means "you're going to kill the golden goose that brings in $300 million a year to this state," Musto said. "That is a whole different argument than whether or not the bus drivers deserve or don't deserve a salary increase."

Musto also noted that OTS gets its money from the city while university faculty is paid for through state sources.

Randy Perreira, deputy executive director for the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, said he believes the outcome of the strike will have little, if any, impact on talks for the union's six units.

The union agreed to a contract extension through June 30, 2004, "with the understanding that we will continue to try to negotiate with the employers and reach a voluntary settlement of our contract before then."

Perreira said he won't deny that "we do take into account, as we determine what direction we're going to take, other things that happen in the community. Everything is a factor."

But the union does not make direct comparisons with what is negotiated between a private company and its employees. "The law requires us to make comparisons with the other public employee unions," he said. "We do pay attention to those."

Public sentiment also key

Chad Blair, a professor of political science at Hawai'i Pacific University, said the fact that the city's bus system is privately operated is lost on many angry residents who believe the government is paying too much for work that is done when services are being cut.

"It's all coming from the same pie," Blair said. "We're talking about taxpayer money here, whether private or public."

That public sentiment could spread to unionized government workers, particularly those that are not essential, as they try to seek raises in the coming months.

"The perception is that this was the wrong time to ask for a pay raise," Blair said. "I don't think there's a question that the Teamsters strike is going to have an impact on the negotiating power of the other unions."

Lawrence Boyd, a labor economist for the University of Hawai'i's Center for Labor Education and Research, said the outcome of the strike may not have as much of an impact as comments made by Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris when he said police, firefighters and teachers are paid less than bus drivers.

Harris has given unions representing those workers ammunition, Boyd said.

"They sent a clear message to all these other people that they are underpaid; that they should get paid more than bus drivers," he said. "And most people think they ought to be paid more than bus drivers."

Blair said if the Teamsters win, "you're going to see the public unions and others knocking on doors at the Legislature next session reminding people that it's an election year. It would be an indication that, 'Hey, the Teamsters won. Now it's our turn.' "

Blair said the bus negotiations could have even greater effects if the union comes away empty-handed.

"Recent history suggests, for the major unions in town, they have at least gotten something of what they wanted," he said. "If the Teamsters were to lose this battle, I would think it would signify a significant turning point in labor history in Hawai'i ... and that the other unions would have to be paying close attention to that."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.

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Correction: The Hawai'i State Teachers Association has a partial contract settlement through 2005 with a reopener on cost issues in 2004. A graphic with a previous version of this story was incorrect.