Maui and Kauai officials
optimistic about contract

WAILUKU » Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa said he thinks the contract being offered to the United Public Workers union is "pretty fair" and is generally in the range of what was given to the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

"In terms of range, it would be very similar to what the HGEA was working with, but it's not exact," he said. "We're very happy we were able to resolve the issue."

Arakawa, who declined to explain the details of the proposed contract pending a UPW membership vote, said his administration has set aside money in the fiscal budget for the increases and will be able to meet the expense.

"I know if they ratify what we've been talking about, we'll have enough money," he said.

Arakawa said he was happy that the county was in good financial shape, enough to enable it to negotiate "positive positions."

Maui County employs about 2,200 people represented by several unions, including the UPW.

Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste said his county is ready to meet the proposed contract.

"Although the UPW agreement hasn't been ratified, based on our current understanding on what has been proposed to the membership, we are prepared to include their ... wage increase in our final budget," he said.

Honolulu and Hawaii County officials were calculating costs and declined to talk about the pay raise figures.