State, teachers reach tentative agreement
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
The state and the union representing 13,000 public school teachers reached a tentative contract agreement last night after more than 10 hours of negotiations.
Gov. Linda Lingle arrived at the Hawai'i State Teachers Association headquarters in Moanalua shortly after 11 p.m. to put the finishing touches on the tentative contract.
Neither side gave any details of the agreement.
But HSTA president Roger Takabayashi said, "I think they will be happy to see the results."
The HSTA board of directors will meet at 7 p.m. today to make a recommendation to the membership.
Takabayashi said the ratification vote would be early next month.
More than 200 teachers had rallied in front of Washington Place yesterday to urge the governor to settle the contract.
State chief negotiator Ted Hong had said he expected a lot of back-and-forth movement after he responded to a counteroffer that HSTA gave him on Monday. Neither side said what terms were on the table.
The state's last offer to the teachers called for no raises in the first year of the contract and 1.5 percent across the board in the second year, plus a 2.62 percent step movement. The contract is retroactive to July 2003.
Neither side would comment last night on the union's counteroffer. However, the union had said it wanted 5 percent raises in each year of the two-year contract.
Starting teachers make $34,294 a year, with the average teacher salary at $45,167.
At yesterday's rally, teachers had expressed disappointment at the pace of negotiations.
Robert Hu of Mililani High School, the 2004 teacher of the year, wore handmade devil's horns for the occasion.
"I'm usually a very nice person," Hu said, "but the way the state has treated us, I became more like a devil. The way they treat us, the way they pay us is so insulting."
Pearl City High School teacher Dora Wilson said she wanted to send a message to Lingle and the Legislature that teachers would appreciate their support. "We feel undervalued and underappreciated because we're underpaid," she said.
The last contract negotiations in 2001 led to a three-week strike that shut down public schools across the state before teachers ratified a contract that included raises totaling 18.5 percent over two years. That contract was extended for a year.
The contract must be settled by tomorrow for the Legislature to approve the money without a special session.
Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.
