LIHU‘E — The Hawai‘i Council of Mayors on Monday announced that the four county governments have reached an agreement in principle with the United Public Workers for a new collective bargaining pact for this fiscal year and the next. The
LIHU‘E — The Hawai‘i Council of Mayors on Monday announced that the four county governments have reached an agreement in principle with the United Public Workers for a new collective bargaining pact for this fiscal year and the next.
The mayors — Bernard Carvalho Jr. of Kaua‘i County, Mufi Hannemann of the City and County of Honolulu, Billy Kenoi of Hawai‘i County and Charmaine Tavares of Maui County — issued this joint statement:
“After months of discussions, we’re pleased that we’ve been able to put forth a new labor proposal for public employees represented by the United Public Workers. While the terms were not included in Gov. Lingle’s original public employer proposal to the UPW, we believe the state will find this to be a reasonable settlement that reflects the most recent position the governor communicated to us.
“We’re grateful that the UPW recognized the need for shared sacrifices during a very difficult economic period and came to the table ready to collaborate on paring spending. The public is very dependent on the services provided by UPW members and we believe this agreement will ensure we can continue to fulfill our obligations.
“The mayors stepped up our involvement after talks between the State and UPW broke down late last year. We’re very pleased that we were able to bring the parties back to the table and gain the cooperation of the UPW leadership throughout this process.”
Any agreement must be ratified by the UPW membership.
