Unions challenge
By Debra Barayuga
pay freeze
Star-BulletinA two-year pay freeze passed by the 1999 Legislature violates public employees' statutorily protected rights to engage in collective bargaining, union attorneys say.
The United Public Workers, Hawaii Government Employees Association, Hawaii Teachers Association and Firefighters Association asked the state courts yesterday to uphold public employees rights to bargain wages, hours and conditions of work and declare Act 100 unconstitutional.
In their motion for a preliminary injunction, the unions also are asking the court to block the state and counties from implementing the pay freeze.
Act 100, signed last year by Gov. Ben Cayetano, prohibits public employee unions from negotiating pay raises for its members for two years beginning July 1, 1999.
The courts in October granted a temporary restraining order blocking the state and counties from implementing the freeze.
But the counties say the issue is not about the constitutionality of Act 100, but of the unions' failure to negotiate agreements before they expire.
"There's nothing to stop the plaintiffs from negotiating collective-bargaining agreements in a timely manner," said Ted Hong, assistant corporation counsel for Hawaii County.
On the other hand, the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers made a conscious effort early in 1998 to negotiate a new collective-bargaining agreement before their agreement expired in June 1999, Hong said.
Although SHOPO and the Honolulu Police Department could not agree, they went to arbitration and a new agreement was reached before the current one expired. "There's nothing the plaintiffs can show that precludes them from doing the same thing with the counties and their employers -- like SHOPO," Hong said.
UPW's Takahashi called Hong's allegations "off base."
"We are not squandering anything," Takahashi said. All the unions in August 1998 presented letters of intent to modify terms of their agreements and intended to proceed more quickly than usual, he said.
