ON April 2, 1973, when 9,000 public school teachers last went on strike in Hawaii, I was a gangly junior with a stylish Farrah Fawcett shag at Roosevelt High. While the details are hazy now (due to old age and brain overload), I do vaguely remember that the walkout was kind of fun. Striking parallels
between 1973 and 1997Sometimes during the 17-day learning hiatus, I'd stay home to watch TV or catch the bus to Ala Moana Center. Mostly, though, I'd show up on campus to watch the teachers picket and harass scabs, interview strike participants for the school newspaper or just walk around the empty hallways, marveling at the solitude.
At home, I'd read the Star-Bulletin every afternoon to follow the drama. Back then, John Burns was governor and some guy named Frank Fasi was mayor. Leading the feisty Hawaii State Teachers Association was its chief negotiator, Joan Husted.
The most exciting part was when the teachers defied a judicial order to return to work, and Circuit Judge Masato Doi slapped the union with a $100,000 fine and a $10,000-per-day penalty until its members complied.
HSTA leaders stood firm, determined to obtain higher salaries, fringe benefits and what it deemed to be reasonable workloads and preparation periods for its people. I admired and cheered their chutzpah - but, then again, I was neither a taxpayer nor a parent.
In the end, when San Francisco arbitrator Sam Kagel mediated a very nice 18 percent raise for teachers over a three-year period, everything returned to normal. Even students seemed relieved to get back to classes and the regimented routine.
Fast forward to 1997, and history was aching to repeat itself. This time, approximately 12,000 public school teachers were threatening to walk, again in a dispute over higher salaries and other workplace issues. Last Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of a 5 a.m. strike deadline set for the following morning, teachers carried out their belongings in boxes. Parents, especially my contemporaries who were affected by the 1973 strike, started to panic.
It looked hopeless. Despite more than 20 years, the HSTA was still feisty, and still led by indefatigable chief negotiator Joan Husted. On the other side of the bargaining table was another hard-nosed bargainer, Ben Cayetano, who is determined not to go down in island history as a gubernatorial wimp. Talk about chutzpah: Cayetano even used taxpayer money to run TV ads chastising HSTA's demands since he said the press wasn't doing a good enough job.
With only 30 minutes left on the strike countdown, the two sides reached an agreement: a very nice 17 percent raise, representing $100 million, over four years.
ONCE again, everyone seemed relieved that students could get back to classes and the regimented routine. But it's far from over, folks, and I don't mean the upcoming ratification vote by HSTA members.
Legislators are already hinting like crazy that - although they don't WANT to - they may have to raise taxes to fund the salary increases for teachers and other state employees, seriously look at legalizing gambling to raise more revenues, or may reject the deal outright and send the parties back to the negotiating table.
In other words, hold on to your lauhala hats, my friends. The chapter on the almost-strike by public school teachers in 1997 is far from officially over. We may see tax hikes, a casino or picket signs yet.