Four-Year Contract Reached with Public Workers

State seal. Photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The state and counties have reportedly reached a four-year contract agreement with Bargaining Unit-1 members of the United Public Workers.

Governor Neil Abercrombie called the contract “a win for taxpayers” touting its affordability, saying it will allow for “compensation over the duration of a longer-termed contract.”

The announcement was made during a joint press conference at the governor’s office on Monday afternoon.

In addition to the governor, others included in the announcement were: Mayors Alan Arakawa, Kirk Caldwell and Bernard Carvalho; Dayton Nakanelua, state director, United Public Workers; Bruce Anderson, president/CEO, Hawaiʻi Health Systems Corp.; and Joyce Najita, director, UH Manoa Industrial Relations Center.

According to a press release issued by the governor’s office, the contract includes the following terms:

• Consecutive 2% pay raises beginning in October of this year, and thereafter every April 1 and October 1 for the duration of the contract, which runs through June 30, 2017.
• Under the contract, the employer will pay a dollar amount for health insurance, based on 60% of a Hawaiʻi Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund benchmark plan.
• Improvements were also made in language concerning consecutive hours worked, stand-by pay, military leave, and consultative calls.

Workers covered in the contract are considered blue collar state and county public workers. This includes state workers with the Department of Education, University of Hawaiʻi, Judiciary, and Hawaiʻi Health Care System.

***Supporting information courtesy State of Hawaiʻi, office of the governor.