The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, the union which represents UH faculty across the state, yesterday accused HSTA leaders of taking “ignoring the consequences of their actions” by taking legal actions that “jeopardize the rights of all public sector unions, including the right to strike.”
The unusually sharp and public rebuke was made in an email sent to UHPA members Thursday evening.
UHPA said HSTA has “attacked the character of other union leaders,” and accused other unions, including UPHA, of conspiring with the state by reaching contract settlements.
UHPA’s request to intervene in the proceedings before the Hawaii Labor Relations Board “to preserve the right to strike” was approved over HSTA’s objections. HSTA also tried to bar HGEA’s legal counsel from taking part in the proceedings, according to UHPA.
HSTA’s actions have “alienated virtually everyone who has a relationship with HSTA,” UHPA charged. The UH union said HSTA has subpoenaed more than 88 invididuals, including representatives of UHPA, HGEA, and UPW, in order to question them about an alleged “conspiracy.”
“The notion of a conspiracy is an insult,” UHPA said.
HSTA’s relations with other public employee unions have been strained since 2005, when the teachers union bolted from the Employer-Union Health Benefit Trust Fund, which was set up as a centralized provider of health benefits to state and county workers. HSTA’s move to its own health trust removed its members, generally considered better health risks, out of the general pool of union employees, resulting in higher costs and higher health care premiums for other public workers.
The legislature declined to reauthorize the separate HSTA health benefits plan and it expired this year, with teachers being moved back into the larger EUTF.
The full UHPA email is reprinted below.
To: All UHPA members
Subject: HSTA Leadership Undermining Public Union Rights
HSTA’s hearings before the Hawaii Labor Relations Board (HLRB) have recently grabbed headlines in the news, but UH faculty should know there is a much more important story that is brewing beneath the surface out of the public eye. The subtext has grave implications for all public sector unions, including UHPA.
Collective bargaining is the most efficient and effective way for an employer and union to reach an agreement. We believe the legal process should be used to clarify and enhance collective bargaining; not be a substitute for it.
UHPA is deeply troubled by the actions the leadership of the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) is undertaking to promote its position before the HLRB. HSTA’s leadership has filed a series of legal actions, including attacks on the character of other union leaders, that are resulting in more harm to Hawaii’s teachers and that could jeopardize the rights of all public sector unions, including the right to strike.
Unfortunately, HSTA is not only undermining their own case by deploying these tactics, but they are also impacting the lives of all members represented by public unions. The rationale for these tactics is transparent: they are designed to divert attention away from the core issues of collective bargaining and the need to protect the rights of all public union employees.
HSTA leaders are making decisions that appear to ignore the consequences of their actions. As a result, HSTA has alienated virtually everyone who has a relationship with HSTA.
• HSTA’s leadership has alleged that the leaders of other public unions have made agreements with the Governor and that UHPA conspired against Hawaii’s teachers and prohibited their right to bargain. As a result, more than 88 individuals, some representing the leaders of UHPA, HGEA and UPW, have been subpoenaed to testify at the HLRB hearings. The notion of a conspiracy is an insult.
•HSTA’s leadership has sought to have HGEA’s legal counsel barred from participating in the HLRB proceeding.
•Recently, HSTA’s leadership filed motions charging the HLRB with unfair and unethical practices, alleging bias and deliberately delaying hearings on the prohibited practice claims and other issues. As a result of this challenge one HLRB member recused herself due to her spouse being an HSTA member. This is an unfortunate and unintended consequence of their efforts.
When HSTA filed its prohibited practice claim with the HLRB, UHPA filed a petition to intervene to preserve the right to strike. HLRB accepted UHPA as an intervener over the objections of HSTA. In addition, UHPA has been informed that HSTA will seek to have the HLRB order overturned in Circuit Court. If HSTA is successful this would prohibit UHPA from addressing issues that impact the rights of faculty.
UHPA filed the petition because of the implications for UHPA and other unions. Unlike some other labor unions, if there were an impasse in negotiations between UHPA and the State, faculty members would be allowed to strike and would not be subject to interest arbitration. HSTA’s hearing could affect that right and UHPA wants to ensure good-faith bargaining efforts can continue.
While UHPA is confident HSTA’s charges are baseless, it is troubling that Hawaii’s teachers are the ones who must endure the circuitous and destructive route HSTA leadership has chosen as the means to obtain a contract. These tactics create unnecessary drama; not a settled contract.
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Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought UHPA locked in pay raises for the years ahead and pay back of all pay reductions.
So that way I see it teachers have been given a last best offer of pay cuts while professors get pay raises and retro money.
Not sure why college professors deserve to be higher on the public resource food chain above those that interact with our at risk children. Mine is just one half-informed opinion. I am ready to listen and become more informed. But I am not ready to start any sobbing for UHPA’s complaint here.
Bill:
You are correct that during the last bargaining cycle UHPA very wisely (and with enormous commitment and effort) negotiated a six-year contract, recognizing that the perilous fiscal climate was likely to last for some time. That was only part of a good contract that UHPA negotiated. And “negotiated” is the key word. The contract was hammered out during tough and lengthy bargaining, and in the face of serious threats leveled by the State and the University. The UHPA negotiators did an excellent job in representing their membership, which is what negotiators are supposed to do.
Other unions approached their negotiations in their own different ways. But, at least this time around, the HSTA leadership (and I’m basing this entirely on press reports) appears to be grossly incompetent. And now, perhaps in an effort to distract attention from its arrogant miscalculations and failings, it is flailing about with a reckless and destined-to-fail legal strategy that could endanger the collective bargaining rights of all public employees–including teachers. That’s what has UHPA and other public employee unions justifiably worried.
You’re also right to be concerned about our state’s children. The underpaid teachers in Hawai’i and the U.S. deserve far more than they currently are receiving. In terms of comparative salary, American teachers rank below at least ten other nations. But they rank below more than two dozen nations when salaries are calculated in relationship to national GDP…well below, for example, Portugal, Mexico, Czech Republic, Turkey, Slovenia, and Chile–to say nothing of Korea, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, etc. (See http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09teacher-pay-around-the-world)
However, as bad as U.S. teacher salaries are, Hawai’i teacher salaries are below the national average. And when cost-of-living is factored in, Hawai’i teacher salaries rank 50th nationally–the worst of any state in a country that itself has a very poor international ranking. (See http://teacherportal.com/teacher-salaries-by-state)
That is a disgrace, and the blame for it is widely shared. But among the culpable HSTA must be included. It’s leadership has done a terrible job representing its members…and now it’s embarked on a reckless campaign that could well make matters far worse for teachers and for every public employee in the state.
That’s what UHPA’s complaint–the one that you’re “not ready to start any sobbing for”–has been trying to prevent. In short, UHPA is doing more to support Hawai’i’s beleaguered teachers–and “our at risk children”–than the teachers’ own union is doing.
Full disclosure: I am a UH employee and UHPA member, but I have not held any office in the union for two decades.