6 of 7 HGEA units ratify new 2-year contract
Six of seven bargaining units of the state’s largest public-sector labor union today ratified a new two-year contract that will mean a 5 percent pay cut, an increase in their health care premium payments and an increase in time off.
But the 1,561-member Unit 9 of registered professional nurses rejected the proposed contract in a 509-392 vote. The split vote does not affect the ratification of the contract by each of the other bargaining units, HGEA spokeswoman Jodi Endo Chai said.
For the general public and the remainder of the 28,124-member Hawaii Government Employees Association, it also means an end to twice-a-month Furlough Fridays.