STAND. COM. REP. NO.  43-14

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2014

RE:   H.B. No. 1977

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1977 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend resolution procedures for an impasse between a public employer and the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit by requiring, under certain circumstances, that provisions of the final positions submitted in a collective bargaining arbitration include only proposals that were submitted before impasse.

The Office of Collective Bargaining, Department of the Attorney General, Department of Budget and Finance, Department of Education, University of Hawaii, and the Department of Human Resources of the City and County of Honolulu provided testimony in opposition to this measure.  The Hawaii Labor Relations Board and Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO provided comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by specifying that:

(1)  The final positions submitted by each party shall include only those specific proposals that have been previously submitted in writing before impasse and about which an impasse in bargaining has been reached;

(2)  Under certain circumstances, the parties at impasse are strictly prohibited from including positions that were not previously submitted in writing before impasse and about which an impasse has not been reached; and

(3)  The arbitration panel shall decide whether the final positions submitted are compliant with statutory requirements and which proposals may be considered in the final agreement.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1977, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1977, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair