Most unionized public workers in Hawaii have ratified new contracts this year with pay raises after agreeing to wage freezes two years ago amid the coronavirus-triggered economic downturn.

At least 12 of the 15 collective bargaining units representing state and county workers in Hawaii have ratified contracts, according to information from the unions involved.

State lawmakers are considering bills to fund agreements reached by union and state negotiators and then ratified by union members.

A couple of the more recent agreements where contract details have been made public include the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, where an arbitration panel reached a final decision earlier this month, and the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, where members finished voting to ratify a new agreement April 8.

The UHPA agreement, which covers a few thousand staff in the university system, extends a current 2021-2023 contract to June 30, 2025, and provides for a 1% bonus retroactive to last July, followed by pay raises of 3.72% on July 1, then 5% in 2023 and 5% in 2024.

UHPA’s pay raises are identical to those in a February contract agreement covering a United Public Workers unit representing about 6,000 blue-collar, nonsupervisory workers.

The UPW unit’s agreement also calls for a one-time $1,000 payment to members who were working when their prior contract expired June 30.

UPW and UHPA officials published statements referencing challenges surrounding negotiations this year, which followed moves by Gov. David Ige’s administration exploring labor savings during the past two years when tax revenues plummeted largely due to COVID-19 responses.

“Needless to say, the past couple of years have been daunting, challenging, and extremely difficult,” UHPA said in announcing the union’s ratified deal. “However, the UH Faculty in Bargaining Unit 7 displayed tremendous resilience, determination, and dedication by continuing to persevere through these difficult times allowing students to obtain their degrees and increasing student enrollment at the UH Manoa and the UH Hilo campus while nationally the trends show otherwise.”

UPW Administrator Liz Ho said in a statement that the organization’s executive negotiating committee faced “unprecedented challenges” in its long effort to obtain a new contract for the bigger of the union’s two units in February.

On March 30 a second UPW unit representing roughly 2,700 public workers in institutional, health and correctional jobs ratified a new four-year contract running from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025, though financial terms have not been disclosed publicly.

For more than 1,900 Hawaii firefighters, a new four-year contract provides for no extra pay in the year ending June 30, followed by increases of 3% on July 1 and then 4% in each of the following two years.

The largest public-sector labor union in the state, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, representing about 37,000 working members among nine units, has ratified contracts for all or all but one of its units. The union declined to share financial terms of the deals.

The state Department of Human Resources Development, which handles labor negotiations on behalf of the state, does not disclose contract terms before legislative funding is secured, because lawmakers could force renegotiation if they refuse to fund the agreements between Ige’s administration and the unions.

As for Hawaii’s three other public-sector collective bargaining units, one has yet to reach any agreement on a new contract, while information was not available for another one and an arbitration decision is being awaited for the third.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association, which represents about 13,500 workers, had not yet negotiated a new contract as of Monday, according to Keoki Kerr, the union’s director of communications.

The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, representing over 2,700 police officers, did not respond to a request for information about its contract status. SHOPO’s membership is entirely composed of county employees. It’s the sole union among the 15 collective bargaining units that is not subject to funding approval by the Legislature.

Last, a new HGEA unit formed in 2021 to represent state and county ocean safety and water safety officers separately from an HGEA unit representing state law enforcement officers is awaiting an arbitration decision on an initial contract.