If you think the state’s legal battle with the Hawaii State Teachers Association is intense, wait until negotiations boil over with the United Public Workers, which represents more than 13,000 state and county blue-collar workers. Talks with the UPW have produced little apparent progress since the old “Furlough Friday” contract expired July 1, and while [...]
Posted tagged ‘Neil Abercrombie’
Are UPW talks coming to a head?
September 16, 2011Do my eyes deceive me on Waikiki homeless?
September 13, 2011I made a few trips to Waikiki last week and found the homeless far less visible than my last visit in checks from the Elks Club end of Kapiolani Park through Ala Moana Park. I’ve also noticed fewer homeless in once-popular areas in Kakaako. I’ll take it as a sign that Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s homelessness [...]
New twists in teachers contract dispute
August 18, 2011The state Ethics Commission is likely to take more flak from high places for its advisory ruling that led Sesnita Moepono, one of three members of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, to withdraw from the prohibited practices case involving the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract. The ethics determination was pretty much a no-brainer; Moepono’s husband [...]
Governor must answer, ‘Where’s the beef?’
August 17, 2011In his speech today updating constituents on the status of his “New Day” program, Gov. Neil Abercrombie once again did an excellent job of describing the major challenges that Hawai‘i faces. But he still hasn’t gotten to the hardest part — prescribing specific remedies that a critical mass of Hawai‘i residents will support despite the [...]
HSTA flounders in labor battle
August 17, 2011The Hawaii State Teachers Association is making self-defeating moves in its legal fight to overturn a state-imposed contract that hits teachers with a 5-percent pay cut and a greater share of medical premiums. The HSTA’s complaint to the state Ethics Commission that Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the Department of Education engaged in illegal ex parte [...]
New hope in teachers’ labor dispute, or just hype?
August 8, 2011It could be naive, but I’m going to take the offer of the Hawaii State Teachers Association to enter into mediation with the state in their continuing contract dispute as a sign of progress and not more posturing. The teachers union is currently pursuing legal action against the state after Gov. Neil Abercrombie and schools Superintendent [...]
Teachers play political card in contract dispute
July 28, 2011The latest plea by the Hawaii State Teachers Association to get Gov. Neil Abercrombie back to the bargaining table seems more intended to step up political pressure on Abercrombie than to actually restart negotiations. In a letter to Abercrombie, HSTA president Wil Okabe made blatant reference to the union’s campaign endorsement of Abercrombie and said, [...]
Abercrombie ups the stakes on homelessness
July 27, 2011Progress has been painfully slow in Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s high-profile battle to end homelessness in Hawai‘i, but give him credit for continuing to hack away at the problem and increase his personal accountability. A state phone line set up for citizens to report homeless people in need of services drew some derision when few useful [...]
System for choosing UH regents falls short again
July 19, 2011Once again, the regents advisory committee has given Gov. Neil Abercrombie only two candidates to pick from in filling a Big Island seat on the University of Hawai’i Board of Regents. With no knock intended on the candidates — Kamehameha Schools vice president Gregory Chun and former Hawaii County managing director Barry Mizuno — that’s [...]
Guv agrees to pay losing bidders
July 13, 2011The last batch of bills signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie included one of the hold-your-nose gems of this year’s Legislature — HB 985, which allows the state to reimburse some losing bidders on public works projects for the cost of preparing their bids. The measure, which Abercrombie approved without comment, allows the state to spread around [...]
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