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Teachers spell it
out: Raise pay
or we walk

With a strike date set for April 5,
HSTA expects unity in
the vote today

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By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

With an April 5 strike date set, Nuuanu Elementary third-grade teacher Jinny Aki said she and many colleagues will vote today in favor of a walkout by Hawaii's 12,000 public school teachers in an effort to settle stalled contract negotiations.

Getting teachers to turn out in large numbers at different polling sites across the state to take the strike authorization vote is an important show of unity, she said.

"I think it sends a very strong message that we all stand together," Aki said.

Tonight's vote comes as Gov. Ben Cayetano spends nearly $10,000 to run full-page advertisements in today's two Honolulu dailies to present his view of the negotiations with public worker unions, particularly the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

"Others have said much about the state and the position we have taken in these difficult negotiations, and we wanted to correct some misinformation," Cayetano said.

The president of the teachers union said its message to the public has been clear: The state's salary proposal does not go far enough to attract and keep qualified teachers in Hawaii at a time of a shortage of teachers.

"He feels we're distorting the message, and we disagree," said HSTA President Karen Ginoza. "We're trying to be as factual as possible."

Negotiations between the state and the union have been at an impasse.

A 60-day cooling-off period expires Saturday, and teachers will be free to walk off the job after giving a 10-day notice.

Teachers are looking for a 22 percent raise, while the state is offering a raise between 10 and 20 percent, with an average 12 percent increase.

Ginoza said the union would like to see starting teachers' salaries increase -- which the state is targeting with the highest percentage -- but not at the expense of other groups of teachers.

The teachers are looking for a retroactive pay raise, step movement between salary levels and fairness, Ginoza said.

The governor is aiming to counter a public relations blitz by the HSTA and the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, which also is not happy with the state's wage proposal and has scheduled a strike vote next week as a way to jump-start talks.

Besides running television advertisements, HSTA members have been waving signs and wearing union T-shirts in schools in an effort to gain public support for the raises and as a show of solidarity.

Cayetano said that the state ads will cost $9,893.40 and will be paid from the savings of having the state's chief negotiator, Davis Yogi, head both the Office of Collective Bargaining and state Department of Human Resources Development.

The offices previously were staffed by two individuals.

Cayetano has said the state cannot afford the pay raises being demanded by public worker unions.

The HSTA Oahu strike vote will take place at the Neal Blaisdell Center Arena.