Editorials
Thursday, June 12, 1997LABOR union clout appears to be threatening public safety in Honolulu. The official city physician, John Hall, charges that Jeremy Harris is letting the leader of the United Public Workers union, Gary Rodrigues, weaken city policy on drug testing for members of his union. Hall said the mayor is letting employees who failed drug tests go back to work in order to retain Rodrigues' political backing. Council should probe
city’s drug programFor his part, Rodrigues has urged Harris to eliminate Hall's job, claiming that Hall and Ana Horne of the city Personnel Department had refused to allow employees to return to work even though they had been cleared by their own doctors. Rodrigues also told his members not to participate in the city's employee assistance program for troubled workers, including those with drug problems, which is administered by Horne.
Harris has rejected Rodrigues' proposal but defends his administration's drug policy. He says that because he worked out an interim agreement with Rodrigues, Honolulu is the only county to begin disciplining UPW members for drug use. But Hall charges that in at least two cases in the last nine months public works employees failed drug-treatment programs but were sent back to work after Rodrigues complained and the Personnel Department overruled Hall.
Moreover, Hall maintains that there is "a significant problem with substance abuse" among city employees who are UPW members. In an open letter, he writes of "several individuals who have tested positive up to four times, with no effective discipline, and no consequences to them for failure to maintain sobriety."
There is an obvious danger to public safety if workers using drugs are permitted to operate heavy equipment, such as garbage trucks, which is one of the work categories under UPW jurisdiction. City employees who are members of the UPW have tested positive in recent tests for drugs or alcohol more frequently than city police officers or firefighters.
Even in a community as inured as Honolulu is to union influence over public policy this situation should be intolerable. Rodrigues' demand that Hall's position be eliminated -- he is protected by the civil service law from firing without cause -- is outrageous. The City Council has a duty to investigate this situation promptly and thoroughly.
However, state law requires the state and counties to negotiate with the unions on employee drug policy and thus far a final agreement has not been reached with the UPW. This is another example of Hawaii elected officials framing laws and policies to suit the public employee unions who keep them in office -- at the expense of the public interest.
THE Philippine Supreme Court has reaffirmed an earlier decision rejecting a bid to amend the constitution and open the way for President Fidel Ramos to seek a second term. Although Ramos had consistently stated that he would retire at the end of his single six-year term in 1998 and was not behind the attempt to amend the constitution, there was much speculation in Manila that the president might run after all, given the opportunity. Philippine president
This is particularly important because of the Philippines' experience with 20 years of oppressive rule by the late Ferdinand Marcos, who changed the constitution to suit his purposes. The current constitution, with a one-term presidential limit, was approved in 1987, a year after Marcos was overthrown. Neither Marcos' son, Ferdinand Jr., nor his widow, Imelda, appears to have any chance of election.
THE Institute for Astronomy has developed into one of the most outstanding programs at the University of Hawaii. The dismissal of its director, Donald Hall, after 13 years in the post, raises questions which should be answered. Astronomy chief
UH President Kenneth Mortimer praised Hall's record but said the institute would benefit from new leadership. He declined to explain why Hall was fired. Hall says he suspects political pressure from Maui figures who believe he has neglected the institute's operations on Haleakala in favor of Mauna Kea. That would be a shabby way to deal with the head of a world-class operation.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
