The unresolved random drug-testing issue is likely to haunt upcoming contract negotiations between the state and the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, officials said.

Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resource Development, this week said that the credibility of the teachers union has been hurt by its handling of random drug testing.

"Because of the position they are taking with respect to the previous negotiated contract, it makes it that much more challenging to go into this next round," Laderta said.

Preliminary negotiations between the union and the state are expected to begin within the next few weeks. The current teachers contract is set to expire in June 2009.

Meanwhile, union officials say they are disappointed by the latest comments made by Gov. Linda Lingle with regards to upcoming contract talks.

"We are in the process of scheduling meetings with them," said Roger Takabayashi, president of the teachers union. "Contract negotiations, according to the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board, should be done at the table and not via the media."

That reaction followed comments that Lingle made to The Associated Press in the lead-up to the elections. She said that contract talks aren't likely to be productive unless the drug-testing issue gets resolved.

"Until we have someone we can trust as a negotiating partner, it's going to make it very difficult for us to begin the next round of negotiations," Lingle said.

"So if (union leaders) are not being sincere, they risk jeopardizing the next round of negotiations for their members."

The issue of drug testing has been tied up at the state Labor Relations Board, where hearing dates have yet to be set for complaints filed by both the state and the teachers union.

LEGALITY OF PROGRAM

On July 18, the state filed a complaint with the board against the union, alleging the union failed to negotiate the terms of the testing program in good faith. The contractual deadline for drug testing was June 30.

The union also filed a petition asking the board to make a declaratory ruling on the legality of a random drug-testing program for teachers.

The state filed its petition claiming that the HSTA was making a "mockery" of the collective bargaining process.

"The teachers and public are being duped by the current union leadership," Laderta said at an Aug. 5 news conference about the complaint. "They never intended to implement random drug testing. They never did."

The union, however, has said that it is prepared to implement drug testing based on reasonable suspicion. However, questions about the constitutionality of the random drug-testing program are being raised.

Takabayashi said the union is waiting for the Labor Relations Board to rule on the issue before proceeding.

CREDIBILITY QUESTIONED

State officials said that because the union's position on drug testing changed after its members ratified the contract back in June 2007, it makes it difficult to trust whether the union leadership will keep its word.

"This issue absolutely goes to the credibility of the HSTA and the union leadership," said Laderta, who acted as the chief negotiator for the state during talks for the current contract.

"It will be something that will affect how the negotiations progress," she said.

Neither HSTA nor state officials would say whether the drug-testing issue could be renegotiated during upcoming talks.

But Takabayashi did say that "everything in the contract is up for discussion."

"We're going to do the conversing on the subject matter at the table, versus in the media," Takabayashi said.

The majority of teachers last year ratified a two-year contract that granted a 4 percent across-the-board pay increase in July 2007. A salary-scale step increase of 3 percent in January for some teachers was included in the contract. Both of those pay raises have taken effect.

Another 4 percent increase is due to take effect in January. The governor released the money for that raise last month, even as the issue of drug testing remained up in the air.

The current contract increased starting pay for new teachers from $39,901 to $43,157.

For teachers with about 15 years of experience, a master's degree and additional credit hours, annual pay went up from $59,566 to $66,359 by the end of the contract.

For the most experienced teachers, with more than 33 years of experience, pay increased from $73,197 to $79,170.

Officials have always acknowledged that the pay raises were granted during contract negotiations in exchange for random drug testing.

In the final weeks of contract talks in May 2007, union negotiators said Lingle inserted a non-negotiable random drug-testing provision into the contract, which angered many teachers.