Teachers ‘work to rule’ in push for contract deal

Hundreds of teachers from 51 public schools statewide participated in grass-roots “work to rule” protests Thursday to call for a resolution to a labor dispute entering its 17th month.

At Farrington High more than 50 teachers, students and community members went out after school to hold signs that read, “I (heart) teachers” and “Honk if you love teachers.”

Among them was special-education teacher Ryan Keogh, who said Hawaii educators want to move talks forward so a strike is averted.

“We don’t want to have to strike,” he said. “We’re just looking to get a contract.”

Standing nearby, teachers Michelle Murray and Jessica Serino said it has been almost two years since a contract offer with wage cuts was imposed on teachers — and said it’s time a deal is reached.

“Do I really have to stand on a corner to get my pay?” said Murray, a ninth-grade world history teacher.

Serino said teachers are working harder than ever because of sweeping education reforms but aren’t seeing better working conditions or more money.

“It’s silly to me that we can’t get a contract,” Serino said. “I think we’ve been patient for a long time.”

Thursday was the second day Hawaii teachers “worked to the rule” — that is, working only the hours they’re required to under contract.

Similar protests are scheduled for the next two Thursdays, and the number of schools participating continues to grow, said Corey Rosenlee, a teacher at Campbell High and one of the organizers of the “work to rule” protests.

At the protests, teachers gather on sidewalks before and after school — signs in hand — instead of overseeing clubs, participating in faculty meetings or conducting myriad other activities during time for which they are not paid.

THE PROTESTS COME as the teachers union is in talks for a contract that would begin July 1. The state and union met for the first time Nov. 14 to discuss a 2013-15 contract, and will sit down again Dec. 5.

During the break from talks, union officials reviewed the state’s most recent proposal and were “disappointed,” Hawaii State Teachers Association President Wil Okabe said Thursday.

He said the proposal did not include wage increases, but did have a restoration of 5 percent pay cuts that were included in a “last, best and final” offer imposed on teachers July 1, 2011.

Okabe was at the Farrington High sign-waving Thursday and said the protests are about raising community awareness about what teachers do — and spotlighting the fact that teachers continue to work under an imposed contract offer.

While HSTA has supported the “work to rule” protests, the union has not planned them.

“It’s a grass-roots effort,” he said of the protests.

Rosenlee said the gatherings have “helped teachers find a voice.”

He said his greatest concern — and one of the reasons he helped organize the protests — is the high teacher turnover year after year.

“We just keep losing teachers,” he said.

Schools that participated in Thursday’s protests were scattered across the state — from Kaimuki High to Kohala High to Maili Elementary to Sunset Beach Elementary.

Raymond Ababa, 18, a student at Hono­lulu Community College and a Farrington High graduate, came out for the Farrington protest Thursday to support his former teachers.

His sign read, “Bus drivers paid more.”

“Teachers don’t get paid for all the extra stuff they do,” Ababa said. “They deserve to be better paid.”

The protest also attracted a raucous group of current Farrington students, who at one point cheered across King Street, “We love teachers, yes we do. We love teachers; how ’bout you?”

Patti Meyer, who is in her 16th year of teaching, said conditions have been tough for years, with pay cuts and higher health care premiums.

“We’d like to have a contract,” the special-education teacher said. “We do put in a lot after (contracted) hours.”

Rosenlee said the “work to rule” effort is about more than just waving signs.

By reaching out to teachers, he said, he and others were able to draft a proposal aimed at attracting and keeping a qualified teaching corps that he hopes will be introduced in the upcoming legislative session.

The proposal, which calls for more competitive teacher salaries, longer school days and a more comprehensive teacher evaluation system, has been supported by the HSTA Leeward Oahu chapter and is set to go before the union’s executive board this weekend for review.