The Hawaii Labor Relations Board has approved an agreement between the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association to defer enforcement of a recent ethics ruling barring candidates for union office from distributing their campaign materials through school mailboxes, according to the attorney representing the union.

The labor board approved a stipulated temporary restraining order that permits teacher candidates to use the mailboxes in schools, according to former Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, who is representing the union before the labor board. The TRO means that the department will revert to the past practice dating back more than four decades. The procedure has been for the union to submit a list of qualified candidates in its internal elections, who are then allowed to distribute campaign materials.

That abruptly ended in mid-March when ethics commission staff advised the department that it now considers access to school mailboxes “inappropriate.”

The staff opinion was based on a new interpretation of an ethics provision which prohibits any employee from using their official position to grant or obtain an “unwarranted” advantage or privilege. The law specifically says that use of state time, equipment or facilities for “private business purposes” is not allowed.

The new interpretation and advice to the DOE was explained to commission members at their March 18 meeting. However, a union request to defer enforcement until after the current election is over in late April could not be acted on because it was received too late to be included on the meeting agenda.

The commission did not vote on a suggestion that a special meeting be held to review the staff interpretation.

HSTA responded legally on two fronts.

The union went to court on Monday, March 23, seeking a TRO to block the ethics ruling. As of Friday afternoon, the union and the state had been unable to agree on a way to settle the dispute, court records show.

In a separate legal action, HSTA filed a prohibited practice complaint against the Department of Education with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board.

Hanabusa said in an email on Saturday that the labor board had approved a stipulation or agreement between the parties for a TRO, which means union candidates can distribute their campaign materials to other teachers through school mailboxes, at least for now.

The State Ethics Commission was not a named party in either legal, and it is not known how the agency will respond to this bypassing of its authority over ethics issues.

See:

“Hawaii Monitor: Ethics Commission Ruling Draws Teachers’ Union Lawsuit,” Civil Beat.

“State Ethics ruling triggers two-pronged HSTA legal action,” ilind.net

“Is union candidate access to school mailboxes an “unwarranted” privilege?“, ilind.net