[ TEACHER STRIKE ]
Teachers, IT WAS WELL BEFORE the 11th hour that the decision to close down the public schools was made last night.
administrators knew
strike was coming
The decision to close the public
schools was made well before
the midnight deadlineNegotiations at a glance
By Richard Borreca
and Crystal Kua
Star-BulletinAlthough the Hawaii State Teachers Association had set midnight last night as the deadline for a contract settlement, the inevitability of a statewide public schools strike was in the air by early evening.
Gov. Ben Cayetano announced during a live 6 p.m. television broadcast that the state's latest offer to teachers had been rejected.
Cayetano said the state moved from a 12 percent to a 14 percent increase for HSTA members, that would cost the state $93 million.
But that was rejected by the HSTA, which said the governor's proposal doesn't offer enough money to solve a teachers' shortage and prevent teachers from leaving the profession and the state.
The union's original offer called for 22 percent wage hike, which the union said would cost the state $260 million.
HSTA chief negotiator Joan Husted said the union's most recent proposal this week is now down to less than $200 million, although she declined to give details.
UNION OFFICIALS have previously said they would be willing to settle the contract for $161 million, which could still be configured to offer a 21 percent raise. "It's a matter of how you arrange the money," Husted said.
Resolution of the strike won't come until the governor bumps up his offer, she said.
"We're going to have to have significant movement on the administration's part to recruit and retain teachers," Husted said.
Husted said the governor's proposal raises pay for entry-level teachers but it doesn't pay middle-range teachers enough.
"It dwindles off and the people at the middle of the schedule still are not going to be encouraged to stay."
The mood of negotiations yesterday was described as serious and somber .
"We talked a little bit about how both of us ... would like to avoid this confrontation but neither of us could figure out how we could do it," Husted said.
Husted said all the non-cost items such as professional development was resolved. "We're just stuck on money."
This is the first strike by Hawaii public school teachers since 1973.
Asked if he thought the teacher's strike would end after the two-day school closing, Cayetano said "No."
"The talks broke down and this is where we are," Cayetano said.
ABOUT TWO HOURS after the 3 p.m. start of yesterday's bargaining session, members of the state negotiating team -- chief negotiator Davis Yogi, state Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu, Budget Director Neal Miyahira and Board of Education members Denise Matsumoto and Winston Sakurai -- left one by one.
"They said they wanted to be done by six (o'clock) and then they were done by six," Husted said, referring to the time the governor held his briefing.
"We're very sad and disappointed that we have not reached settlement," said HSTA President Karen Ginoza said. "We're open to come back."
Cayetano said he was willing to keep talking with both the teachers and the University of Hawaii faculty, but was not expecting any results for several days.
But Cayetano said that when the teachers and UH faculty go on strike, all the offers from the state are withdrawn.
"We go back to ground zero," he said.
The economic effect of the strike is also of concern, Cayetano said, noting that 12,000 teachers and 3,200 university members would be without paychecks.
The governor also blamed the Legislature for raising the union's expectations, "especially the Senate," he said.
"We have a problem only because we have a Legislature that seems to be making pay raises its first priority.
"If we got some support from the Legislature and they said 'We can support only so much money and we need money for other things, be it textbooks or computers,' it would be easier," he said.
In response, Senate President Robert Bunda said the Senate was concerned by the budget and was "struggling to find the money.
>> HSTA Web site
>> UHPA Web site
>> State Web site
>> Governor's strike Web site
>> DOE Web site
Negotiations at a glance
>> State-HSTA
October
State's original wage proposal: No raises for the first two years of a contract, 4 percent for the third year and 5 percent for the fourth year or total of 9 percent. The amount is the same for all teachers -- $1,607 in 2001 and $2,092 in 2002. Cost to the state $67.8 million.Teacher's original salary proposal: Four year contract retroactive to 1999. A 22 percent increase includes 10 percent across-the-board raise over four-year deal, plus "step" increases of about 3 percent in each year of the contract. Union says the cost to the state is $260 million while the state says the cost is $294 million.
March
State: Offers average 12 percent raise. Entry-level teachers would get 20 percent while those at the other end of the wage scale would get 10 percent. Total cost $67.8 million.
April
Union: Lowers cost of its proposal to under $200 million.State: Offers $93 million with 14 percent raise.
>> State-UHPA
State's latest offer
>> 11 percent pay increase over two years, which includes a "strong merit incentive." Of that total, 9 percent would come from state coffers, while UH would contribute the other 2 percent.
UHPA's counteroffer
>> 12 percent pay increase over two years, plus 2 percent additional merit possibility.
Removed from the table
>> A state proposal to pay faculty over nine months, which would have meant no health benefits over the summer and a loss of three months of retirement credits per year.
Still at issue
Community college faculty workload: Faculty teaching five classes would teach four and use the extra time for research and preparing for promotion and tenure. The union says this is standard at the UH Manoa, Hilo and West Oahu campuses. The state says this would require hiring more lecturers and increase operating costs.Faculty share of royalties from patents: The state proposes splitting the royalties in three equal parts for the university, the faculty and the faculty's department. Professors currently receive half the royalties.
Faculty enrollment at UH: The state's proposal bars UH faculty from being full-time students.
>> HSTA Web site
>> UHPA Web site
>> State Web site
>> Governor's strike Web site
>> DOE Web site