The Hawai'i Government Employees Association has given $200,000 to the Hawai'i Alliance, a group opposing a state Constitutional Convention, to help pay for an advertising campaign leading up to next Tuesday's vote.

The HGEA Ballot Committee made the contribution this month and, while the Hawai'i Alliance has yet to file its most recent campaign finance report, activists say the donation is the largest to the group since the September primary.

Labor unions, concerned about the impact of a Constitutional Convention on issues such as collective bargaining, public education and civil rights, have largely financed the opposition. In September, the National Education Association's Ballot Measure Fund gave the Hawai'i Alliance $350,000 and the Hawai'i State Teachers Association $150,000 to campaign against a convention.

Randy Perreira, the executive director of the HGEA, the state's largest public workers union, said unions are worried about collective bargaining but also have significant concerns that other existing rights in the Hawai'i Constitution would be put at risk, such as Native Hawaiian rights and water rights.

"While we've been the focal point because two unions in particular have put in a fair amount of money, we're not the only ones by any means," Perreira said.

The Hawai'i Alliance paid for a full-page advertisement in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on Sunday listing its partners, which include Alexander & Baldwin, First Hawaiian Bank, Earthjustice and the O'ahu Council of the Association of Native Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

Supporters of a Constitutional Convention have not been able to raise a competitive amount of money for advertising and have been relying on Internet Web sites and the news media, particularly Perry & Price, KSSK's top-ranked morning radio show, to advance their message.

"Special interests are spending whatever it takes to mislead people into thinking a Constitutional Convention will do more harm to our state than good," said Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, who supports a convention. "Apparently, empowering our citizens to make government work better is not high on unions' priority list."

Aiona and others have argued that a convention could include debate on local school boards, initiative and referendum, term limits for state lawmakers, and evidence rules in criminal trials.

Voters are asked once a decade whether to hold a Constitutional Convention if state lawmakers do not put the question on the ballot sooner. The last convention was in 1978.

If voters Tuesday approve calling for a convention, the state Legislature would decide when a convention would be held, how many delegates would be involved, and when delegates would be elected.

Florence Kong Kee, the executive director of the Hawai'i Alliance, said the group is trying to educate voters through its advertisements. "We don't need the ConCon and we can't afford it at this time," she said.