DRUG-TEST DISPUTE REMAINS UNSETTLED

Conflict Likely To Cloud Upcoming Contract Talks Between Teachers,
State

The unresolved random drug-testing issue is likely to haunt upcoming
contract negotiations between the state and the Hawai'i State
Teachers Association, officials said.

Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resource
Development, this week said that the credibility of the teachers
union has been hurt by its handling of random drug testing.

"Because of the position they are taking with respect to the previous
negotiated contract, it makes it that much more challenging to go
into this next round," Laderta said.

Preliminary negotiations between the union and the state are expected
to begin within the next few weeks. The current teachers contract is
set to expire in June 2009.

Meanwhile, union officials say they are disappointed by the latest
comments made by Gov. Linda Lingle with regards to upcoming contract
talks.

"We are in the process of scheduling meetings with them,"said Roger
Takabayashi, president of the teachers union. "Contract negotiations,
according to the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board, should be done at
the table and not via the media."

That reaction followed comments that Lingle made to The Associated
Press in the lead-up to the elections. She said that contract talks
aren't likely to be productive unless the drug-testing issue gets
resolved.

"Until we have someone we can trust as a negotiating partner, it's
going to make it very difficult for us to begin the next round of
negotiations," Lingle said.

"So if (union leaders) are not being sincere, they risk jeopardizing
the next round of negotiations for their members."

The issue of drug testing has been tied up at the state Labor
Relations Board, where hearing dates have yet to be set for
complaints filed by both the state and the teachers union.

legality of program

On July 18, the state filed a complaint with the board against the
union, alleging the union failed to negotiate the terms of the
testing program in good faith. The contractual deadline for drug
testing was June 30.

The union also filed a petition asking the board to make a
declaratory ruling on the legality of a random drug-testing program
for teachers.

The state filed its petition claiming that the HSTA was making a
"mockery" of the collective bargaining process.

"The teachers and public are being duped by the current union
leadership," Laderta said at an Aug. 5 news conference about the
complaint. "They never intended to implement random drug testing.
They never did."

The union, however, has said that it is prepared to implement drug
testing based on reasonable suspicion. However, questions about the
constitutionality of the random drug-testing program are being raised.

Takabayashi said the union is waiting for the Labor Relations Board
to rule on the issue before proceeding.

credibility questioned

State officials said that because the union's position on drug
testing changed after its members ratified the contract back in June
2007, it makes it difficult to trust whether the union leadership
will keep its word.

"This issue absolutely goes to the credibility of the HSTA and the
union leadership," said Laderta, who acted as the chief negotiator
for the state during talks for the current contract.

"It will be something that will affect how the negotiations
progress," she said.

Neither HSTA nor state officials would say whether the drug-testing
issue could be renegotiated during upcoming talks.

But Takabayashi did say that "everything in the contract is up for
discussion."

"We're going to do the conversing on the subject matter at the table,
versus in the media," Takabayashi said.

The majority of teachers last year ratified a two-year contract that
granted a 4 percent across-the-board pay increase in July 2007. A
salary-scale step increase of 3 percent in January for some teachers
was included in the contract. Both of those pay raises have taken
effect.

Another 4 percent increase is due to take effect in January. The
governor released the money for that raise last month, even as the
issue of drug testing remained up in the air.

The current contract increased starting pay for new teachers from
$39,901 to $43,157.

For teachers with about 15 years of experience, a master's degree and
additional credit hours, annual pay went up from $59,566 to $66,359
by the end of the contract.

For the most experienced teachers, with more than 33 years of
experience, pay increased from $73,197 to $79,170.

Officials have always acknowledged that the pay raises were granted
during contract negotiations in exchange for random drug testing.

In the final weeks of contract talks in May 2007, union negotiators
said Lingle inserted a non-negotiable random drug-testing provision
into the contract, which angered many teachers.