Layoffs likely if teacher pact revoked, state argues

About 700 employees could be laid off if the state Department of Education is ordered to cancel the pay cuts, furloughs and higher health care premiums for teachers it unilaterally imposed July 1, the state said in a Hawaii Labor Relations Board filing Monday.

"This is not a threat. It is an unfortunate — and honest — financial reality," the state said in the filing, which did not specify whether all of the layoffs would be teachers.

In explaining the need for the labor savings, which amount to about $31 million annually, the state said it is facing a "momentous budget shortfall" that cannot be met with other cuts.

The filing is in response to a motion from the Hawaii State Teachers Association, which seeks to restore the conditions of a contract that expired June 30 and to compel the state to return to the bargaining table.

A hearing on the motion is set for Aug. 10.

To win relief, the union must show the likelihood of its complaint prevailing on merits, irreparable harm of the state’s action and that providing relief is in the public interest. In its motion the teachers union argued it could meet that standard.

It pointed to the harm of the pay cuts and higher medical premiums, and also said the state’s action itself was harmful.

The union has separately filed a prohibited-practice complaint, arguing that the state bargained in bad faith and violated members’ rights and the state Constitution when it unilaterally implemented its "last, best and final" offer. The labor board will begin discussing that complaint Aug. 15.

Unilaterally implementing a "last, best" contract offer is unprecedented in Hawaii public-sector negotiations. The state says it has the right to impose an offer when talks are at an impasse.

"When bargaining failed and the parties reached an impasse in negotiations, the employer had to act," the state in its filing Monday. "It was that, or be forced to lay off hundreds of employees at the Department of Education. The employer chose to save those jobs."