Posted on: Wednesday, July 28, 2004

UH instructors sign 6-year contract

Advertiser Staff

Gov. Linda Lingle and key members of the University of Hawai'i formally signed an unprecedented six-year labor contract with leaders of the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly yesterday.

The contract, which runs retroactive to July 1, 2003, will cost $162.8 million over six years. The state's contribution will be $123.9 million with the remaining $38.9 million to be allocated by the university in the last three years of the contract.

With a compounding effect, the pay increase would be about 34.8 percent over the life of the contract. UH professors and instructors currently make an average salary of $61,200, from a low of $35,000 to a high of $200,000.

The 3,148-member UHPA ratified the contract in April. Members will receive raises in each of the six years, from 1 percent in 2003 to 11 percent on July 1, 2008, the final year of the contract.