Hawaii’s largest union backs Hanabusa for governor

Hawaii’s largest union, representing more than 42,000 government workers, took several swipes at Gov. David Ige as it announced Tuesday its decision to support Colleen Hanabusa in the governor’s race.

The endorsement by the Hawaii Government Employees Association adds to the trove of union support Hanabusa has racked up since announcing her bid for governor. It could also undercut Ige’s efforts to be seen as the candidate for working families.

In particular, HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira took Ige to task for not supporting the union’s efforts to raise the wages of approximately 1,600 members to at least $15 an hour. Ige, who has made the fight for a $15 minimum wage a campaign theme, rejected this characterization of contract negotiations late Tuesday.

Perreira announced the union endorsement at HGEA’s offices in downtown Honolulu flanked by members touting “Hanabusa for governor” T-shirts. He suggested that Ige has been ineffective in tackling entrenched economic problems and that Hanabusa would be a better leader.

“What we have continued to see in Hawaii are problems that continue to evade solutions: the problem of homelessness, in particular, the need to provide affordable housing to all — that includes people in the working middle class,” Perreira said.

“We continue to see reports of a robust economy here in Hawaii, and the current administration brags of record surpluses, yet those surpluses are not resulting in a better standard of living for our workers, for our citizens,” he continued. “Something has got to change, and for us the key element in this election has to be leadership.”

Hanabusa, speaking remotely via videoconference in Washington, D.C., to union supporters, said that part of building the “best Hawaii that we can” includes keeping more money in workers’ pockets. She also touched on the issue of HGEA members being paid less than $15 an hour, calling it “appalling.”

During 2016 and 2017 contract negotiations for more than 13,000 Unit 3 members, who hold jobs such as secretaries, clerks, police dispatchers and educational assistants, HGEA says it pressed the governor to raise all members’ wages to at least $15 an hour. Many of the approximately 1,600 full-time workers whose wages fall below this threshold are educational assistants, according to the union.

Perreira said that the governor’s rejection of the wage increases was a disappointment for the union.

“The current administration was unfortunately deaf to our concerns in that regard,” he said, adding that members also were frustrated by the rising costs of health care.

However, Ige said his administration did in fact make proposals that would increase the lowest-paid employees’ wages to $15 an hour. “All were rejected by the union,” said Ige in a statement.

“Our public employees are the heart and soul of government, and they have earned my respect for the work they do,” he said.

Asked to respond, Perreira said that the union never received a formal proposal to raise the wages to $15 an hour.

“The state did make a presentation to us on a concept that still would not achieve a $15 an hour minimum. Lack of agreement between the state and the county employer groups killed that concept. For them to suggest that they made formal proposals to us is just untrue,” he said in a statement.

While Ige has not received as many union endorsements as Hanabusa, he was endorsed Tuesday by the Hawaii Association of Public Accountants, which praised the governor for his fiscal responsibility, support for local jobs and for helping secure the state’s high bond rating.