When deposed Hawaii basketball coach Gib Arnold filed a grievance against the University of Hawaii earlier this month, there was surprise that he was represented by the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

But the practice of the HGEA, the state’s largest union, representing UH coaches goes back nearly 40 years — at least.

For example, David Trask Jr., HGEA executive director from 1969 to 1981, represented then-men’s basketball coach Bruce O’Neil in a 1976 reassignment and eventual resignation.

Back before UH achieved major college status in athletics in the 1970s, few coaches had full-time contracts. "We do know that most coaches held regular jobs at the university and coached on the side," current HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira said in an email. "In addition to including the head coaches, providing for the assistants, many of whom were career UH employees, was important. There were efforts to keep these individuals in the state retirement system when coaches became full-time; with that, it was felt that they should remain in a bargaining unit."

Although they negotiate their own terms, UH coaches pay union dues and their contracts are signed off by the HGEA.

Several UH and mainland athletic officials said they are not aware of another state where major college coaches are represented by a state employee union.