STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1393-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: S.B. No. 2707

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor & Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 2707, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require the employer to initiate negotiations on repricing of classes within a bargaining unit within thirty days of the employer's receipt of the exclusive representative's written request to negotiate; and

(2) Establish that the employer's failure to initiate the negotiation within this time frame, or the parties' failure to reach an agreement within ninety days of the exclusive representative's written request to negotiate or by January 31 of a year in which the collective bargaining agreement is due to expire, whichever is earlier, constitutes an impasse to which the impasse procedures shall apply.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; and Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Human Resources Development and City and County of Honolulu's Department of Human Resources. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that repricing is the reassignment of an existing class to another pay range without changes in duties. Repricing occurs when the class is not in proper alignment with other classes in the same bargaining unit. Your Committee further finds that a class of work is priced or assigned to a pay grade based on a careful and systematic analysis of factors such as knowledge, skills, complexity, supervision received, and contacts, with the goal of creating a pay structure and pay relationships that are equitable for all classes of work by evaluating jobs based on a consistent set of criteria. This measure provides mandatory timeframes within which repricing negotiations must be initiated and an agreement reached, the failure of which would cause impasse procedures to apply.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to December 25, 2040, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2707, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2707, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Tourism,

____________________________

RICHARD H.K. ONISHI, Chair