The state appeals court affirmed Thursday a 2011 Circuit Court ruling against the teachers union in its labor dispute with the state.

Soon after the state imposed a "last, best and final" contract offer on teachers in July 2011 that included teachers absorbing pay cuts and a larger share of health benefit costs, the Hawaii State Teachers Association asked the Hawaii Labor Relations Board to block the contact and provide temporary relief from the wage cuts.

When the board didn’t immediately rule on the matter, the union appealed to Circuit Court, which dismissed the case. The union then tried to take its case directly to the Hawaii Supreme Court, which denied the request.

In upholding the Circuit Court’s denial, the appeals court said Thursday the HSTA appeal was "without merit."

HSTA President Wil Okabe did not immediately return calls for comment.

The request for relief from pay cuts is separate from the union’s prohibited-practice complaint that contends the state violated teachers’ collective bargaining rights and acted in bad faith when it imposed the 2011 contract. A decision in that case is still pending from the labor board, nearly nine months after it held its final hearing on the matter.

Teachers are unable to strike or take the prohibited-practice matter to court without a ruling on the union’s complaint before the board.

The state and HSTA are in negotiations for a 2013-15 labor contract.