KHON January 10, 2013: Pay-raise award imminent in UPW arbitration

From HSTA January 7, 2013

Welcome back to a new year and a new semester in 2013!  We hope that the winter break afforded some much needed rest and relaxation that will continue to fuel your inspiring work with Hawaii's students, as well as our collective struggle to achieve a fair and equitable contract.

During the break, your HSTA negotiations team gathered data which validated members' concerns about flaws in the DOE's piloting and planned implementation of the Charlotte Danielson teacher evaluation system for the 2013-15 agreement. The team will present this data at their next meeting with the Employer on Friday, January II.

As you well know. the 2013- 15 negotiations have been considerably complicated by the Employer's unfair dealings and imposed 2011-13 contract. Your HSTA legal team continues to await the Hawaii Labor Relations Board's ruling in this matter.

We are also cognizant of related 2011 - 13 contract disputes being undertaken by other Hawaii public employee unions, including several ongoing arbitrations.

HSTA has recently learned that a decision in at least one of these arbitration cases is imminent and may include retroactive salary and other compensation.  Though this decision will not directly affect our ongoing legal action, it certainly raises basic issues of fairness and equity that must be considered by all parties as we move forward with negotiations for 2013- 15.

In light of these developments, we arc delaying the release of the 2013 Negotiations toolkit for the time being. Instead, we invite teachers to support your negotiations team by taking one or more of the following actions:

• Participating in a fairness & Equity Sign-holding Event to be held in front of the Board of Education offices from 3-5 p.m. on Thursday, January 10 – the day prior to the next contract negotiation session.

• Go to www.ContractfortheFuture.org/how-youcan-help/ and share your concerns via email with the Governor and the Board of Education about the flawed piloting and implementation of the Educator Effectiveness System tool.