HAWAII TEACHERS' CONTRACT NEARING EXPIRATION WITH NO DRUG

Pay Raises Given While State Still Awaits Ruling On Lingle's
Complaint

The contractual deadline for random drug testing of Hawai'i public
school teachers passed nearly six months ago, and still no teacher has
been tested.

This week, the teachers union and the state are expected to begin
talks on a new contract.

The current two-year contract, which expires in June, included pay
increases of up to 11 percent in exchange for a commitment from
teachers to accept random drug testing. Teachers have gotten most of
the pay increases, but the teachers union has balked at the testing.

The state has accused the union of making a "mockery" of the
collective bargaining process. The union has said it has concerns
about privacy rights and the potential of illegal searches and seizures.

Gov. Linda Lingle's office filed a complaint with the state Labor
Relations Board to get the teachers to abide by the contract, but the
board has not ruled on the issue.

State officials say they are unsure whether the dispute over the
current contract will be resolved before it expires in June.

Negotiators from both sides met several weeks ago, but only to set
ground rules for the upcoming talks. Nothing of substance, including
the drug-testing issue, was discussed.

Neither Roger Takabayashi, president of the Hawaii State Teachers
Association, nor Mike McCartney, executive director of the HSTA,
returned phone calls last week for comment.

In an e-mail, Teri Tanaka, spokeswoman for the HSTA, said the union
had no update on the teacher drug-testing issue.

On July 18, the state filed a complaint with the Labor Relations Board
against the teachers 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 Labor Relations Board has yet to schedule a hearing on the
complaint. James Nicholson, chairman of the board, declined to discuss
why the board has not taken action.

"There really has been no developments," said Marie Laderta, director
of the state Department of Human Resource Development.

Deputy Attorney General Jim Halvorson said there is little the state
can do but wait for the Labor Relations Board to rule.

Halvorson said he was unsure why the board has not taken action, but
he said drug testing will likely come up during contract talks.

"We are entering into a new round of negotiations. ... In the context
of negotiations these issues still remain," he said.

The Labor Relations Board did take action on a petition filed by the
Hawaii State Teachers Association.

Also in July, the union filed a petition asking the board for a
declaratory ruling on the legality of a random drug-testing program
for teachers.

The board dismissed the petition, saying it lacked jurisdiction to
rule on whether the random drug-testing provisions of the teachers'
contract violates state and federal constitutions.

The HSTA has appealed the dismissal, Halvorson said. A hearing date in
Circuit Court has not been scheduled.

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 in October, even as the
issue of drug testing remained up in the air.

After news that Lingle had released those funds, she told The
Associated Press 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."