Mayor: Raises, trash
pickup not linked
But the UPW director says
Star-Bulletin staff
the issue may have to be settled by
the state labor boardHonolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris says pay raises for 8,000 United Public Workers members are not linked to increasing automated trash collections on Oahu. City Managing Director Bob Fishman, speaking on Harris' behalf, today said he doesn't know if city workers have been notified that state UPW director Gary Rodrigues has vowed to renege on a plan for continuing the automated service if new pay raises don't come.
City Personnel Director Sandra Ebesu last night issued a statement saying that Harris, from the beginning, made it clear that the city did not have the $14 million for the pay raises and, in fact, is having to lay off employees to balance the budget.
Ebesu said Harris has not changed his position and never said the city should vote for the pay raises.
However, Rodrigues maintains that Harris is backing out of a 2 percent pay raise and the entire matter may have to be resolved by the Hawaii Labor Relations Board.
Manabu Kimura, the state's chief labor negotiator, today said the settlement agreement with the UPW is now being circulated and only the state has signed off on it.
About 40,000 Oahu homes have been converted from three-worker trash collections to the automated system, which involves only one driver and one truck.
The plans called for converting eight more Oahu routes serving 22,700 homes by the end of the year. The city maintains that the conversion would save $1.1 million.Fishman, speaking for Harris who left for Japan today on a business trip, said garbage is now being picked up on a contract that has been extended until May 1.
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris says pay raises for 8,000 United Public Workers members are not linked to increasing automated trash collections on Oahu.
City Managing Director Bob Fishman, speaking on Harris' behalf, today said he doesn't know if city workers have been notified that state UPW director Gary Rodrigues has vowed to renege on a plan for continuing the automated service if new pay raises don't come.
City Personnel Director Sandra Ebesu last night issued a statement saying that Harris, from the beginning, made it clear that the city did not have the $14 million for the pay raises and, in fact, is having to lay off employees to balance the budget.
Ebesu said Harris has not changed his position and never said the city should vote for the pay raises.
However, Rodrigues maintains that Harris is backing out of a 2 percent pay raise and the entire matter may have to be resolved by the Hawaii Labor Relations Board.
Manabu Kimura, the state's chief labor negotiator, today said the settlement agreement with the UPW is now being circulated and only the state has signed off on it.
About 40,000 Oahu homes have been converted from three-worker trash collections to the automated system, which involves only one driver and one truck.
The plans called for converting eight more Oahu routes serving 22,700 homes by the end of the year. The city maintains that the conversion would save $1.1 million.Fishman, speaking for Harris who left for Japan today on a business trip, said garbage is now being picked up on a contract that has been extended until May 1.
