Teachers union grilled over stagnant contract negotiations

Facing growing teacher protests over a labor dispute in its 17th month, the state called on the teachers union Thursday to make clear what it wants in a new contract and to explain why it can’t return to the bargaining table before the new year.

"In most protests you have your demands," said Board of Education member Jim Williams, who is on the state’s negotiations team. "In this case we don’t have the demands, and I don’t think people know that."

Williams said teachers and the public have a right to know that the Hawaii State Teachers Association has made no proposals for the 2013-15 contract period, which is now being negotiated, and that the union turned down an offer to sit down next week.

On Wednesday, Williams sent a letter to HSTA President Wil Okabe asking a series of questions, including, "Why does HSTA refuse to meet again until Jan. 11?"

The letter was released by the Department of Education on Thursday with a news release — a move Okabe described as a ploy to pressure the union into accepting an offer it isn’t happy with.

"They’re trying to again bully us into making a deal," Okabe said. "I think they think this is a game. We do not treat this as a game."

The state and HSTA have engaged in increasingly heated rhetoric this week, following the union’s decision Monday not to accept a settlement offer that included the restoration of a 5 percent wage cut, 2 percent raises each year of a 2013-15 contract and $2,500 bonuses for new teachers who successfully complete probation.

Williams said the DOE decided to speak publicly about the pace of talks as a way of addressing teachers at ongoing "work to rule" protests who are urging the state to make a contract deal.

"The bottom line is, this is not a tit for tat," he said of the department’s decision to issue a news release on his letter. "The questions I asked are legitimate questions. If we don’t have a proposal from them, it’s hard to know (what they want)."

Teachers held another day of "work to rule" protests Thursday, working only their contracted hours and stopping all work before and after school they are not paid for.

Teachers at nearly 100 schools participated in the fourth day of protests in four weeks.

The number of schools where the protests have occurred has grown from just one on Nov. 15.

Okabe said Thursday he is planning to respond to Williams’ letter, and acknowledged HSTA had not yet submitted a proposal for a 2013-15 contract period.

But he said his negotiations team planned to formulate one soon.

He also said the union opted not to meet again until the new year because teachers will be on winter break starting Monday.

"We are not going to be rushing into an agreement," he said. "We want to take our time."

Okabe added he doesn’t want a repeat of the contract rejection that occurred in January, when two-thirds of teachers voted down a six-year contract that included a new teacher evaluation system linked to pay.

In May the vote was reversed — with 66 percent supporting it — but the governor said the contract offer was no longer valid.

Okabe has said the state’s 2013-15 comprehensive settlement offer was not accepted in large part because of continuing questions about a revised teacher evaluation system linked to student performance.

He has also said he believed the proposed pay raise was too stingy.

The state’s proposed 2013-15 contract offer expired Monday, but Williams said the 2 percent annual pay raises are still on the table.

Teachers have been working under an imposed contract offer since July 1, 2011, when negotiations fell apart.

The imposed "last, best and final" offer, which included 5 percent wage cuts and higher health insurance premiums, expires June 30.

BOE letter to HSTA