According to sources who wish to remain anonymous due to the fact they were not authorized to speak about the proposal, the contract was agreed to in principle during a 2 p.m. meeting at Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s office at the State Capitol.
Under the tentative agreement UPW members will take furloughs instead of a five percent across the board pay cut. That’s a stipulation UPW State Director Dayton Nakanelua never backed away from.
The first year of the proposed contract includes 13 furloughs, with one of the days covering the four months that members continued to pay ten percent less in health insurance premiums than other public workers. The second year of the contract calls for 12 furlough days, however there is a guarantee of no more than two furlough days per month in both years of the contract.
The proposal also guarantees UPW will suffer no layoffs during the contract period, which expires on July1, 2013.
Like other public worker unions, namely the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the Hawaii Government Employees Association, UPW members will pay a 50-50 split on health insurance benefits, instead of the 60-40 that favored the state.
Sources say Nakanelua was also successful in exempting seven to eight hundred UPW workers from enduring any furloughs at all. Those members, most of who work at state airports, are paid by federal funds or special state funds. Nakanelua saw no need for them to suffer any lost wages if the monies for their salaries did not come out of the state’s general fund.
In late July and early August UPW conducted a strike authorization vote throughout the state. While exact figures were not released at the time, the union said more than 80 percent of members authorized a possible job action. It was feared UPW could call a strike during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but those fears never materialized.
The union’s Executive Negotiating Committee is set to vote on the contract proposal this Saturday. If approved, which is widely expected, the union will set-up a statewide ratification process as soon as logistics are worked out.
What’s still not known is how UPW furloughs would impact public schools. Under a last, best and final offer imposed on HSTA July 1 by the governor, teachers who work year round are being furloughed nine days, while those who work a ten month schedule are being furloughed 7.5 days. All teacher furloughs occur during non-instructional days, but with UPW having at least twelve furloughs per year, the impact on UPW cafeteria workers is unclear.
In addition, it’s not clear how the UPW contract would impact a ‘most favored nation’ clause agreed to between the state and HGEA. The clause allows HGEA to receive the same benefits as any other public worker union, if those benefits are better than what HGEA agreed to.
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See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
