HGEA wins
raise of 8%Lingle administration officials
voice concern over the award
set by an arbitration panel
The white-collar state and county worker wage package awarded by an arbitration panel is winning support from Democrats who control the Legislature, while the Republican administration of Gov. Linda Lingle is reacting cautiously.
The arbitration panel called for a 5 percent raise, starting next January, and step or seniority increases starting in July. Russell Okata, HGEA executive director, estimated the contract represents an 8 percent increase for HGEA members by the June 30, 2005, contract end.
That increase, Okata said, would mean about $32 million more in state salaries.
There will be no retroactive pay raises.
The Lingle administration had said the arbitration process would result in higher salaries compared with face-to-face negotiations between the state and unions. Yesterday, Lingle representatives said the administration was worried about the HGEA settlement.
"It does have a substantial impact on the out years of the state budget, meaning the 2006 and 2007 years, because it does increase the salary base," state negotiator Ted Hong said.
"The arbitrators and others seem to think this is a $32 million agreement for two years. The contract will have an additional $53.4 million for fiscal '06.
And, Hong added, after six years the contract will result in increased costs of $247 million.
The three arbitrators, Catherine Harris, Michael Ben and Larry Ishimi, noted in their award that the state might not have a lot of money now, but will have more next year.
"Deferring any economic improvements until the second year of the contract and deferring the across-the-board wage increase until the midpoint of the second year of the contract is a reasonable approach given the economic indicators, which all point to increased revenues," the arbitration award read.
The arbitrators -- one selected by management, one by the union, and a third independent mediator -- called the award "a modest increase."
Okata said, however, that the award was a disappointment to him because the union had wanted a wage increase during the first year of the contract.
The union, Okata said, had also offered an off-the-record settlement with the state that included a step increase in the first year and a smaller salary increase that "was much less than what we got through arbitration," but the Lingle administration rejected the proposal.
Legislative leaders looked favorably on the award yesterday. Sen. Brian Taniguchi, Ways and Means Committee chairman, said he thought the award would fit within the state budget.
But Taniguchi (D, Moiliili-Manoa) and House Speaker Calvin Say (D, St. Louis Heights-Wilhelmina Rise) said the contract has to be viewed in terms of all public employee settlements, including the blue-collar United Public Workers and the Hawaii State Teachers Association, which have yet to reach an agreement with the state and counties.
The other major wage settlement, the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly contract, which is for six years and by its end will have raised university salaries by a third, must still be approved by the faculty next week.
The HGEA's settlement comes on the heels of a 14.5 percent increase won for a 1999-2002 contract.
But Okata sought to downplay some of that increase because since then the state has required union members to pay a larger portion of their health care costs.
Those costs, Okata said, have ranged from between $10 and $300 a month more for union members, depending on the number of people covered by the health plan.
Because it is an arbitration award, the union membership cannot reject the contract. The only action that can be taken is a decision by the councils and the Legislature to fund or not fund the settlement.
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Contract calls for 5%
Some details of yesterday's arbitrated decision on the contract of the Hawaii Government Employees Association:
wage increase in 2005>> The contract runs from July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2005.
>> The contract covers about 24,000 blue-collar supervisors, white-collar workers, educational officers such as principals and vice principals, and professional and scientific employees such as engineers and scientists.
>> All employees will get a 5 percent wage increase starting Jan. 1.
>> Each bargaining unit will get step increases starting in June, which will include seniority earned since the beginning of the contract, but the pay will not be retroactive.
>> Considering a clerk now getting $26,652 a year, Russell Okata, HGEA executive director, said the person will be getting an extra $2,080 a year when the contract ends in June 2005.
>> All County Councils and the Legislature must vote for the extra money needed to pay for the contract.
Star-Bulletin staff
