Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
A bill that would force the Hawaii Labor Relations Board to issue timely decisions on cases was passed by the House Finance Committee on Wednesday, much to the satisfaction of the teachers union.
House Bill 151, which had been stalled for several weeks, next heads for a full House floor vote.
It’s a watered-down version of a Senate bill the Hawaii State Teachers Association had been pushing. That measure, which is dead, would have set a 30-day window for the Labor Board to act. If not, complaints would by default be resolved in favor of the complainant, under that proposal.
The latest version does not specify a number of days. It also does not include the provision for cases to be decided in favor of a complainant absent a ruling.
The House bill had at one time included a 90-day time frame, but the labor board said it could not support the measure, citing concerns about its small staff and a growing backlog of cases.
The teachers union is lobbying for the measure in light of its prohibited-practice case before the labor board. The HSTA says the state violated members’ collective bargaining rights when it imposed a "last, best and final" offer in July 2011 that included pay cuts and a larger share of health benefit costs.
HSTA President Wil Okabe supported the bills, testifying that teachers have been "denied a prompt decision" in the union’s pending case.
Teachers remain at a standstill, unable to strike or take the matter to state Circuit Court, without a ruling on the union’s complaint before the labor board. A final hearing in the case was held in May.
