Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 616 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to:

HGEA-AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO and the Hawaii State Teachers Association testified in support of this measure. The Department of Human Resources Development and the Office of Collective Bargaining testified in opposition to this measure. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations commented on this measure.

Currently, given the unrestricted ability of the public employer to privatize a government service pursuant to Act 90, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, there is a need to provide a level of protection to public-sector workers who lawfully strike in accordance with chapter 89, Hawaii Revised Statutes. When the Legislature enacted Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, public-sector employers and employees agreed to reinstate the right to strike for employees other than police officers and firefighters. To ensure that economic strikes would serve as an incentive for the employer to negotiate in good faith, essential worker designations were eliminated from civil service. This bill reaffirms the policy established under Act 253, while protecting striking workers' jobs.

However, your Committee recognizes that there may be instances where an economic strike may impact the health, welfare, and safety of our citizenry. As such, there must be sufficient safeguards to ensure that the employer will have avenues available for injunctive relief whenever state and federal health and safety requirements are not being met. While this idea brings forth many new concerns, these issues fall outside the purview of this Committee.

Despite these concerns, your Committee feels this measure warrants further discussion, with the hope that questions and concerns regarding injunctive relief for public-sector employers can be answered by the Committee on Judiciary.

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. 616 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.