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. 2697 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to ensure that employees who are unemployed temporarily due to a labor dispute shall not be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits if the parties to the labor dispute have reached an impasse and, prior to a work stoppage, the striking workers offer to submit the dispute to a fact-finding process.

The Hawaii State AFL-CIO, Unity House, Inc., Hawaii State Teachers Association, and ILWU Local 142 testified in support of this bill. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii opposed this bill.

Your Committee finds that strikes are usually the last resort for unions and that a severe financial toll is levied on working families during a work stoppage. In recognition of the hardships these families endure during work stoppages, this bill would allow workers to obtain unemployment insurance benefits if their bona fide offer to submit the dispute to a fact-finding process is rejected by the employer. The desired result of this process is to shorten the length of work stoppages.

Although this bill could potentially change the balance of power in any future negotiations, your Committee feels that this measure warrants further discussion.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Changing the effective date to February 31, 3003; and

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. 2697, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2697, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.