STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 405-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2133

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2133 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to establish a new collective bargaining unit for substitute teachers and certain other part-time employees of the Department of Education (DOE).

The Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 368, Substitute Teachers Professional Alliance, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill. DOE, Department of Budget and Finance, Office of Collective Bargaining and Managed Competition, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and Hawaii State Teachers Association-Retired opposed this measure.

Substitute teachers provide a valuable service to the State's educational system. However, these individuals are currently without any form of representation within the public school system. Moreover, your Committee was informed that oftentimes, depending upon the situation at the public school the substitute is assigned to, substitute teachers are asked to perform duties that are not teaching-related, e.g., being asked to clean bathrooms and perform clerical services for permanent, full-time instructors. Your Committee finds that this problem can be mitigated through the establishment of a new collective bargaining unit for substitute teachers that would allow for fair and equal representation and give them the ability to collectively bargain for better working conditions.

However, your Committee understands the concerns raised regarding the broad language contained in this measure and the unintended effects this may have on other personnel employed by DOE.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language creating a new definition of substitute teacher;

(2) Deleting language that excluded substitute teachers from the Hawaii Employer Union Health Benefits Trust Fund;

(3) Reinserting language to include part-time employees of DOE working less than 20 hours a week who are equal to one-half of a full-time equivalent in bargaining unit 5;

(4) Clarifying that substitute teachers of DOE, including part-time substitute teachers working less than one-half of a full-time equivalent, shall constitute bargaining unit 14;

(5) Eliminating language that required the State to establish administrative and grievance guidelines for bargaining unit 14;

(6) Clarifying that substitute teachers of DOE, including part-time substitute teachers working less than one-half of a full-time equivalent, shall have an impasse resolved in the same manner as other collective bargaining units;

(7) Deleting language changing the per diem procedures for substitute teachers and part-time employees of DOE;

(8) Deleting language transferring substitute teachers assigned to bargaining unit 5's excluded counterpart to the new bargaining unit 14; and

(9) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2133, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2133,

H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Public Employment,

		____________________________ MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair