Associated Press – TGI HONOLULU — The union representing Hawaii schoolteachers notified the state Thursday of its intent to strike unless it receives a suitable contract offer. Representatives of the Hawaii State Teachers Association hand-delivered the 10-day notice required by
Associated Press – TGI
HONOLULU — The union representing Hawaii schoolteachers notified the state Thursday of its intent to strike unless it receives a suitable contract offer.
Representatives of the Hawaii State Teachers Association hand-delivered the 10-day notice required by state law to Gov. Ben Cayetano, the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and the Board of Education.
More than 12,000 public school teachers are tentatively set to walk out April 5. But the state said it will seek an injunction prohibiting a strike until the labor board has ruled on its complaints.
The union, in turn, has asked the labor board to expedite a hearing on two unfair labor practices complaints filed by Cayetano’s administration.
It wants the hearing concluded before April 5.
The administration has complained that the union is not bargaining in good faith and plans coercive tactics of photographing those who cross teacher picket lines.
Union negotiator Joan Husted said the state’s complaint was filed with the intent to delay or prevent the planned strike, but Attorney General Earl Anzai said that’s absurd.
Anzai said he doesn’t object to expediting the hearing as long as there’s adequate time to prepare.
The union is asking for a four-year contract retroactive to 1999 with an across-the-board 22 percent pay raise.
The state is offering a two-year contract with an average pay increase of 12 percent, with bigger increases earmarked for beginning teachers.
Meanwhile, voting on a strike authorization by faculty at 10 campuses in the University of Hawaii system has concluded. The results won’t be reported until the union executive committee meets on Saturday.
The UH Professional Assembly has tentatively set the walkout for April 5, the same day the public school teachers are threatening to strike.
The faculty union and state remain apart on key contract issues, including the state’s latest proposal to restrict paychecks and benefits to the nine months they work.
That proposal was coupled with an offer of a 7 percent pay raise over two years and 3 percent more in possible merit raises.
The union has asked for a 15 percent raise over four years, including two years retroactive to July 1, 1999, when the previous contract expired.
State negotiator Davis Yogi said the state would keep the faculty on a 12-month pay and benefit schedule if the faculty union gives up its lawsuit opposing the one-time pay lag the other public employee unions accepted.
Professors, however, say that provision will provoke them into a strike.
