The state’s chief negotiator is asking the teachers union to return to contract talks, and says the state "remains committed" to reaching a new agreement.

In a letter Wednesday, chief negotiator Neil Dietz also took issue with the union’s decision to cancel the last three scheduled bargaining sessions with the state, calling the moves "counterproductive and disruptive."

Dietz asked that negotiations resume Monday.

The letter comes as the Hawaii State Teachers Association is planning a second vote on a proposed contract that teachers overwhelmingly rejected in January.

Dietz noted in his letter that Hawaii’s attorney general has said the proposed contract is now invalid and "cannot be revived by a subsequent purported acceptance."

He wrote that despite "HSTA initiating a membership vote for a proposal that is not on the collective bargaining table, the employer remains committed to good faith negotiations in an effort to reach a new collective bargaining agreement."

HSTA President Wil Okabe said the last three bargaining sessions were canceled because the union wanted to focus its efforts on revisiting the rejected offer.

Okabe had not seen Dietz’s letter as of Wednesday afternoon, but said the union has scheduled informational sessions for teachers this week and next, and will continue to move forward with its plan to hold another vote on the January deal before the end of the school year.

"I think this is the best deal we can get," Okabe said, adding that he could not comment on the state’s contention that the rejected offer has no legal standing.

Okabe also clarified that if teachers reject the January deal again, it will give HSTA’s board authorization to strike. An authorization to strike does not necessarily mean a strike is imminent.

Of the vote, Okabe said, "We feel this is the way to preserve the Race to the Top" education grant.

The $75 million federal Race grant is in danger of being lost because of a lack of progress on key initiatives, including the lack of a union agreement on the move to a performance management system for teachers.

Okabe took the stand Wednesday at the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, where HSTA is pursuing a prohibited-practice complaint against the state.

The union argues the state violated members’ rights when it imposed a "last, best and final" offer in July.

At the hearing, Okabe testified that he believed the state would continue to negotiate and would not unilaterally implement its "last, best" offer. "In past practice, we have always gone back to the table," he said.

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On the Net:

» See state chief negotiator Neil Dietz’s letter to HSTA President Wil Okabe, at staradvertiser.com