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Editorials
Friday, April 21, 2000Cayetano’s rejection
of state arbitrationBEN Cayetano is fed up with arbitration as a means of resolving contract disputes between the state and government employee unions. The governor contends that arbitration awards too often favor the unions and disregard the state's fiscal situation. He wants to end arbitration for most unions and restore the right to strike. That would be messier, but it would call the unions' -- and union members' -- bluff when government rejects their demands. Getting arbitrators to go along is too easy.The issue: Governor Cayetano wants to end arbitration of state-union contract disputes and restore the right to strike for most unions.
The latest arbitration awards to the Hawaii Government Employees Association members are a case in point. A panel of arbitrators has awarded the 24,000 HGEA members raises of about 15 percent over four years.
HGEA announced the awards shortly before a mass rally at the state Capitol Wednesday to protest the governor's proposals for civil service reform and reduction of some employee benefits, including vacation time and sick leave, and health benefits for dependents of retirees. The rally was an impressive demonstration of labor's clout in Hawaii, which is the most highly unionized state in the nation and perhaps the state where unions wield more political power than in any other.
Cayetano is no hide-bound conservative. He is a Democrat and a believer in government as an agent for social welfare. But he has seen the difficulty of making government in Hawaii do its job under the burden of laws and rules that unduly favor the employee over the employer and of employee benefits that the state cannot afford.
He has stated that he will refuse to fund the arbitrator's award for the same reason: the state can't afford it -- especially because the other public unions would demand the same raise the HGEA members would receive.
The governor notes that during his first term he was forced to cut funding for programs for the poor and disadvantaged while government workers were receiving raises. He vows that he won't let that happen again for the rest of his tenure.
People ought to keep in mind that this struggle isn't quite the same as a labor-management dispute in the private sector. The employer in this case is the governor and the Legislature, both democratically elected. The money to pay for the raises and other benefits for the employees comes from taxes, paid mainly by people in the private sector.
Money that goes into these raises and benefits is money that can't be spent to build or improve schools -- to correct the appalling conditions at Maile Elementary, for example.
It's money that can't be spent on health benefits for the poor, or enforcement of child support payments or dozens of other programs for the public welfare. It doesn't make sense to give government employees raises at the expense of these programs. But try telling that to the unions.
Labor's show of strength was meant to impress the legislators that they'd better toe the line or else lose union support when elections come around. It's a powerful message. Only a more powerful response by the taxpayer and citizen demanding government service at reasonable cost could offset union pressure.
Prison population
JUSTICE Department figures showing the sharpest decline in prison population growth in two decades are encouraging. Even more heartening are those indicating Hawaii is one of the few states with actual declines in the number of prison inmates over the previous year and the fourth-lowest number of prison inmates per capita. Hawaii's shortage of prison space despite its relatively low incarceration rate should be cause for embarrassment.
The decline in the growth of prison populations nationally is seen as evidence that sharp reductions in crime rates may be starting to provide relief for bulging prisons. America's prison population grew by 4.4 percent over the year ending last June 30. Over that same period, Hawaii's prison head count declined from 5,103 to 4,943, a 3.1 percent reduction exceeded by only Rhode Island (11.2 percent) and Ohio (4.5 percent).
While the percentage of Americans behind bars in midyear 1999 was .682 percent, Hawaii's inmates-per-capita percentage was .291, including the Hawaii prisoners incarcerated in mainland facilities by contract with the state. In other words, while one of every 147 residents in the country was an inmate in June of last year, only one of every 344 Hawaii residents was behind bars. (The inclusion of federal inmates in the national figure and Hawaii's lack of a federal prison is not a major factor; more than 90 percent of inmates are in state rather than federal institutions.)
Nationally, the number of prison inmates grew faster than the population as a whole during the year. That brought the United States to a virtual tie with Russia as the most incarcerated country in the world in terms of inmates per capita. The Justice Department estimates that the number of inmates in U.S. prisons and jails will reach 2 million by the end of next year, quadruple what it was 20 years ago.
Unlike most other states, Hawaii faces the problem of housing an inmate population that doesn't seem to be getting any larger and may continue to diminish if crime rates can be reduced further. That should not be an insurmountable task, even considering the state's budget constraints.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert 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
