The United Public Workers alleged yesterday that Gov. Linda Lingle and her chief labor negotiator are not bargaining in good faith by canceling and walking out of negotiating sessions.

The union filed a prohibited practices complaint with the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board alleging that Lingle and Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resources Development, canceled talks scheduled for June 25, refused to meet last Friday and walked out of talks on Monday.

The complaint describes Lingle's and Laderta's behavior as a "refusal to bargain and constitutes a breach of the duty to bargain in good faith."

Laderta, in a statement last night, disputed the union's claims. "The statements made by UPW are simply inaccurate," she said. "These are the facts: we did not cancel a meeting on June 25, and July 3 was never confirmed. We do want an offer from the unions and the taxpayers deserve nothing less.

"We have no labor law obligation to simply sit and listen to 'off the record' nonbinding statements by the unions. We are entitled to an 'on the record' counter-proposal in response to our 'on the record' offer."

Laderta left a meeting on Monday with union leaders and county mayors at Honolulu Hale. She said the Lingle administration's position is that the state will not come to the bargaining table until the unions submit a formal proposal.

Lingle had ordered state workers to take three furlough days a month for two years to save $688 million and help close a $730 million budget deficit. But a Circuit Court judge ruled last week that furloughs should be the subject of collective bargaining.

Last month, UPW filed a prohibited practices complaint against Lingle, Laderta and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann for speaking publicly about potential layoffs and the topics of contract negotiations. The union, which represents blue-collar workers, said public statements and news releases about contract talks should not be issued without mutual consent.