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Capitol View
SEN. Brian Taniguchi admitted to being a little nervous. The survey question asked whether he would vote to give Hawaii Government Employees Association members the pay raise that was arbitrated earlier this year. Power of public
unions will be testedTaniguchi, a Democrat and a 20-year legislative veteran, said yes, but worried that he would be all alone in his opinion.
"Boy, was I relieved when the survey came out and almost everybody said 'Yes,' " Taniguchi said.
The jittery feeling of an akamai political veteran about supporting a public employee union is worth a second look.
If you say public employee unions are powerful, no one will debate you. But make the question where are public employees powerful and you can get an argument.
In the weeks before the primary election, the HGEA downtown headquarters was open nearly every night. The phone banks were running in one room, while other campaign volunteers were writing postcards and working on organizing support for union-endorsed candidates.
The effort this year, as it has been every year for decades, was a model of organization and teamwork. Executive Director Russell Okata and crew can always run the ground game that makes the HGEA a political player.
This year, however, the unions didn't really prove they were building any political muscle.
The biggest loss for the public unions was the race for mayor, as Jeremy Harris won re-election with more than 50 percent of the vote.
Harris had private labor support, but the public unions were behind challenger Mufi Hannemann.
Two years ago the HGEA and the United Public Workers were effective at the polls because they could add a specific reason for voting for Gov. Ben Cayetano.
"When (Linda) Lingle ran, they could scare them by saying if she is elected they will lose their job," one former Democratic Party official said.
But in the race for mayor, the issue was never that clear. It was never as dramatic a difference as the unions could play up with their don't-gamble-on-the-GOP ads of two years ago.
In this election, the surest sign of union power will be the campaign by Democratic Sen. Brian Kanno, who has all the union support and was chairman the Labor Committee for two years.
Opposing him is Republican Henry Makini, an optometrist who works along the Leeward coast.
For Republicans, the race will be the best measure of how far they can go in the Legislature. If they can beat the union-backed Kanno, when the unions have little else to distract their energies, then the GOP has moved into another league.
BUT if Kanno can prevail, then the power of the unions at the ballot box is greatly enhanced.
The HGEA and UPW must show that they will protect legislators who stand up for the unions during the fiercest legislative battles, which Kanno did time after time as he opposed small-business measures. If HGEA and UPW can give safe haven to friends, no matter what the politics of the moment dictate, the unions will bounce back from the Hannemann defeat.
But if Lingle and company can take a political newcomer to victory, the GOP will be a much stronger force in 2002.
As for the union clout in 2001, when the next session of the Legislature assembles, the power remains.
Both Kanno and Makini said they are in favor of giving the HGEA its arbitrated pay raise.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com