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UH faculty may Saying he thinks the state can afford pay raises for the 3,000 professors, instructors and lecturers represented by the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, J.N. Musto, executive director, sees current negotiations as the most critical in 20 years.
strike if no pay
raises given
The state has rejected a union
offer to accept pay raises at a cost
of $10 million to $12 millionBy Richard Borreca
Star-BulletinAt a news conference yesterday, Musto said the state rejected his union's offer to accept yearly pay raises of 3 percent for two years at a cost of $10 million to $12 million.
UHPA filed for an impasse with the state labor board, which is the first step in putting the union in position to strike.
In response to UH faculty comments saying they feel unappreciated by Gov. Ben Cayetano's administration, the governor said the million dollars each he gave to the medical school and the colleges of engineering and business should demonstrate otherwise.
"Moreover, in the last contract I agreed to give UH faculty the most generous intellectual property rights division in the nation," Cayetano added.
Yesterday, Cayetano also released the contents of a letter he sent to Russell Okata, executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association.
Cayetano's letter spelled out the objections he has to the arbitration award granted the HGEA and said he thought the award was now canceled. If the Legislature insists on approving the bill anyway, Cayetano vowed to veto it. "This scenario will only lead to unnecessary litigation and delay. It need not happen."
He said the state should start bargaining again with the HGEA, although he warned "it is unlikely the state will be able to afford entering a new agreement which contains terms similar to the rejected HGEA four-year arbitration award."
The state has estimated that the proposed HGEA contract would cost an additional $200 million over the life of the contract.
Ka Leo O Hawaii
University of Hawaii
