Nurses Reject HGEA Contract, Others Approve

By Wendy Osher

Vantage from the State Building on Maui. Photo by Wendy Osher.

Six of seven HGEA bargaining units voted to ratify a new two-year contract. Members with Unit 9, representing more than 1,500 registered professional nurses, voted against the new deal. The results of a ratification vote were released last night following votes on all islands.

The HGEA is the state’s largest public-sector labor union. More than 26,000 employees will be covered under the new agreement that remains in effect through 2013.  The contract calls for a 5 percent reduction in base pay, and an increase in health care premium payments.

Gov. Abercrombie said the agreement would end the two-day-per-month furloughs, and would also save the state $124 million over two years.

Units covered by the new contract include the following:

• 796 Unit 2, blue-collar supervisory employees
• 14,096 Unit 3, white-collar non-supervisory employees
• 817 Unit 4, white-collar supervisory employees
• 800 Unit 6, educational officers
• 2,127 Unit 8, administrative, professional and technical University of Hawaii employees
• 7,927 Unit 13, professional and scientific employees