UH planning for possible faculty strike
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
University of Hawai'i administrators are making contingency plans to complete the semester if a faculty strike occurs, while the union representing faculty is trying to drum up support among students.
A meeting with representatives from the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly union, the administration and state, and a federal mediator has been set for March 22. It will be the first time that the parties have met since January.
On Feb. 23 the faculty union filed an "intent to strike" notice with the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board and set strike authorization votes for March 30 and 31. A strike could come as early as April 5.
The only issue is pay. The union seeks salary increases of 6 percent and 8 percent over two years.
John Radcliffe, associate executive director of the union, said UHPA would welcome a student demonstration in support of faculty raises, and he urged more than 100 students who attended a briefing at the Manoa campus yesterday to ask their mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles, "'Would you cross a legal picket line?'"
He also suggested that students contact the governor to show their support for raises.
Senior exchange student Jennifer Scanlan of California said though she sympathizes with faculty, she feels frustrated by concerns about whether a strike will keep her from graduating.
"I'm paying for an education and I'm entitled to receive one," she said after the briefing.
Junior Odeelo Dayondon agreed that many students feel conflicted — but noted a few friends who are seniors wouldn't mind staying on campus a little longer because they haven't found jobs yet.
"I think they've got back-up plans in mind," he said. "Summer school."
During the briefing, students expressed concerns about whether there were solid contingency plans in place to finish their classes if there's a strike; whether they would receive any tuition reimbursement; whether they should still come to class if a strike occurs; and what to do about picket lines.
Radcliffe told students there would be no incidents of harassment in crossing picket lines, as had been reported during the 13-day faculty strike three years ago.
But graduate student Adrienne Oakley, 24, said some students she works with are looking for back ways onto campus that would let them give daily care to critical scientific experiments — just in case.
Karl Kim, interim vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, assured students that campuses would remain open, including dorms and food service areas, and said they should come to class and to campus jobs if a strike occurs.
"We will try to run the university as best we can, even if there's a strike," he said.
Kim said the same day a settlement was reached in the 2001 strike, contingency plans were out on a Web site detailing how classes would be held on weekends and in study slots so everyone could complete the semester on time. This time, too, administrators will do all they can to keep from extending the semester in order to reduce impact on summer plans, said Kim.
UH director of collective bargaining Edward Yuen said a key factor in the weeks leading to the scheduled strike authorization vote is what comes out of the binding arbitration agreement with the Hawai'i Government Employees Association.
The state is required to pay HGEA members the agreed-upon increases, said Yuen. That settlement is expected to be made public around the third week of March, when the UH talks resume.
"Whatever that award is, the governor has to cover," said Yuen. "Hopefully (by March 22) the arbitration decision will have come down and the governor will know what position she'll be in."
Until then, the state won't know what resources are available for other unions, including UHPA and the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, he said.
The single issue dividing the union, the administration and the state is salaries. Twenty-one other issues were settled a year ago and an agreement signed.
Radcliffe said the cost would be around $20 million for UH faculty raises, but Yuen disputes that, saying union requests bring the price tag closer to $43.5 million.
That figure includes salary increases of 6 and 8 percent for the contract's two years, a 4 percent increase on top of that for full-time faculty, along with an overall increase in all minimum pay levels that would lift the faculty anywhere from $5,000 to as much as $16,000.
That would mean instructional faculty with a nine-month appointment at Manoa would go from a minimum of around $30,000 to $35,000; assistant professors from $36,700 to $45,000; associate professors from around $46,450 to $54,000; and full professors from $56,500 to around $72,000.
The union also wants a 6 percent increase in the lecturer rate schedule and a flat fee of $2,000 per credit hour paid for overload — meaning courses taught in the Outreach College and in summer school. Overload pay now ranges from around $1,100 for instructors per credit hour to around $1,570 for full professors.
Ruth Horie, an at-large member of the UHPA executive committee, said the 2001 strike succeeded in pushing faculty salaries from the 13th percentile of their Mainland peers to the 30th.
"We want to get to at least the 50th percentile," she said.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
