A common complaint about Hawaii’s local government is that public worker unions are too powerful.
The problem isn’t the power of unions, but the weakness of most state and county elected officials in balancing politically tinged labor interests with the broader public interests they are sworn to serve.
Exhibit A is a bill passed by the 2017 Legislature that potentially forces state and county administrators to negotiate with unions on routine daily direction of workers, making effective management impossible.
Matters that always fell under the employer’s basic right to manage — hiring, job standards, work assignments, promotions, transfers, discipline, productivity, organizational goals — would become subject to negotiation under Senate Bill 410 Opens in a new tab if “it affects the terms and conditions of employment.”
Unions already have the right to grieve managerial decisions they believe violate their contracts, which is fair.
SB 410 could require negotiation of daily contract implementation, creating endless quid pro quo haggling and further slowdown of public bureaucracies that already move like a‘a lava.
Instead of doling out incremental favors to unions, legislators handed over the keys to the candy store all at once.
The pandering was unanimous in both houses, with support crossing all party and factional lines despite warnings from administrators that it would cripple their ability to manage effectively.
Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe, who has a unique perspective as former head of the teachers union, said SB 410 “muddies the current bright line of understanding between employer rights and employee rights.”
Gov. David Ige took note of managers’ alarm and put SB 410 on his potential veto list, but he’s still talking with union leaders and has until Tuesday to decide whether to follow through on the veto.
If Ige does veto, the Legislature could call an override session, which becomes more likely if lawmakers come back in special session anyway to settle Oahu rail funding.
Unions say they seek only “fairness” and “a level playing field,” terms that usually translate to a bargaining table so tilted that all the marbles roll their way.
But you can’t fault them for that; it’s their job to fight for the best possible deal for their members.
The problem is that there’s supposed to be somebody on the other side of the bargaining table fighting equally hard for taxpayer interests.
This balance that makes collective bargaining work breaks down when legislators who covet labor support in their election campaigns sell out their wider constituency by effectively giving unions sway on both sides of the table.
By any reasonable measure, our state and county governments perform poorly; politics and bureaucratic morass impede progress on virtually any priority problem you can think of.
If the governor and Legislature allow this cynical brown-nosing to become law, any hope for better governance is likely out the window.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
