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Capitol View
THE axiom is "follow the money" and in politics the trail is a tortured one. Public worker
unions are nervousFor instance, behind Gov. Ben Cayetano's attempts to test teachers to make sure they known their stuff is a struggle involving money and power of all public unions.
The public employee unions come down to the Legislature this year nearing a state of crisis. For all their power and political clout, they are in a precarious position, because if the Legislature doesn't listen to them they could lose it all.
This has public unions nervous all over the country.
In Oregon there is a move to require voters to approve state and local government labor contracts. Last year the West Coast states were swept with proposals that would have prohibited public employee unions from using payroll deductions for political campaigns.
In response, the public unions raised $5 million just in Oregon to help friendly politicians. A similar effort is under way this year.
The Hawaii Government Employees Association feels the heat. That is why it adjusted its campaign tactics two years ago and why it has been running text-heavy institutional ads in major newspapers.
As Washington columnist and co-author of "The Almanac of American Politics" Michael Barone says, "public-sector unions' incentives are to increase workers' pay and to insulate them from accountability."
Especially powerful are the teachers' unions.
"With a cache of dues money and articulate members, teachers' unions have been the most powerful lobbying force in nearly all state capitals," Barone notes.
So now Cayetano wants to increase the accountability of this important and powerful political force, by demanding that teachers be tested.
Even his opponent of two years ago, Linda Lingle, agrees that the most critical part of education is the teacher.
"All studies show that quality of the teacher is the No. 1 thing needed, if the child is going to get a good education," Lingle says.
She notes, however, that there has been a shift in the union's tactics at the Legislature. In the past leaders such as Gary Rodrigues, the United Public Workers' executive director, got their way by having state laws written to benefit the union.
Now, Lingle notes, with public worker power waning, the unions want to bargain and negotiate the same items.
Cayetano, too, knows that, which is why he wants to put accountability for all state workers, including teachers, into state law. Teachers are resisting that clause. They want to bargain accountability.
THERE'S a good enough reason from labor's viewpoint. Who will help a teacher if he or she has a principal that just doesn't like him or her?
Cayetano points out that he is switching gears with the public unions now. He wants results aimed at the students, not benefits for the workers.
As the late Albert Shanker, longtime president of the American Federation of Teachers, said, "When schoolchildren start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of schoolchildren."
So the forces are lined up. The unions are looking for the same fight and victory as they have known for years. Money and political muscle equal clout and a win for the unions.
The state wants to enforce its rights as a manager providing services.
The big battle, the one the public is interested in -- better, more efficient services and a civil service that accepts responsibility for its job -- that fight has yet to be fought.
Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes
Legislature BillsRichard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com