On Politics
By Richard Borreca
Sunday, September 2, 2001
For a century that started out perfectly terrible for unions, there is more in store. Labor needs no enemies
with friends like DemsIf the unions think 2000 and 2001 were lousy, as my late friend George Pacheco used to say: "It goes along like this for awhile and then it gets worse."
Labor's problems started with their best pals, the Democrats, and it will be the Democrats who give Hawaii's organized unions even more to worry about next year.
In 1998, the state's public and private unions were the strong right arm of Democratic politics, pitching in to lift Gov. Ben Cayetano's unpopular administration to victory.
Cayetano, however, said union loyalty and concern for the working man were two different things. By 2000 he had launched a series of reforms in direct opposition to the public labor unions.
The proposed changes to civil service, however, paled in comparison to Cayetano's negotiations this year over new labor contracts.
As Hawaii was forced to endure a statewide education strike, the most widespread in the United States, as public education from kindergarten through medical school was shut earlier this year, the unions and the Democrats found each other's company a little less pleasant.
The Democrats in the Senate supported the union's wage demands, the House was hands off and Democrat Cayetano slogged through a three-week strike so bitter than the public school teachers still haven't been paid their raises.
And the 2000 election saw 19 Republicans installed in the 51-member state House.
Besides being the highest GOP number in more than two decades, the Republican wins came in the face of strong union opposition, when the public unions knew they needed as many Democratic votes as possible in the Legislature.
The votes of those usually reliable unions were of no use this spring when the Legislature slapped the public employee chieftains around and voted to change the unions' health fund plans and also open state jobs to privatization.
Union leaders pulled out all the arguments, called in all their favors and then even tried threats, but the Legislature held firm and approved the two government reform measures.
At the same time, the public unions were finding their already-won pay raise subject of new negotiations as Cayetano was able to trade the Hawaii Government Employees Association pay raise for lowered HGEA benefits for future employees.
Finally, the waning power of the unions is likely to be further diluted in next year's governor's race.
Labor is split on who to back. The public unions appear to be leaning toward Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, although Republican-turned Democrat D.G. "Andy" Anderson is lobbying hard for support from the HGEA's leader Russell Okata. Many of the private construction unions have already pledged support for Jeremy Harris.
The teachers' union, stung by years of criticism from members because of the leadership's unilateral endorsements, has opened up the process, leaving the union support to be decided next year.
The negotiations between the state and the teachers over the final details of the teachers' contract have become so bitter that the political fallout may be to toss the teachers into the GOP camp.
Labor unity was one of the reasons Cayetano was able to win re-election in 1998, but that is not likely in the Democratic primary next year.
Unions will then make a great show of coming together behind the Democratic winner after the primary, but the actual power of the unions in the general election is likely to be a pale version of the previous year's mighty labor show of force.
Richard Borreca writes on politics every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached at 525-8630 or by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com
