HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1398
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to collective bargaining.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. By Act 63, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, the legislature found that telephone and emergency dispatchers perform critical services under stressful conditions and that these services are more than clerical in nature. Nonetheless, dispatchers are characterized and compensated as clerical employees. The purpose of this Act is to allow telecommunications and emergency dispatchers and employees who perform similar functions employed by the State and counties to collectively bargain.

SECTION 2. Section 89-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsections (a) and (b) to read:

"(a) All employees throughout the State within any of the following categories shall constitute an appropriate bargaining unit:

(1) Nonsupervisory employees in blue collar positions;

(2) Supervisory employees in blue collar positions;

(3) Nonsupervisory employees in white collar positions;

(4) Supervisory employees in white collar positions;

(5) Teachers and other personnel of the department of education under the same pay schedule, including part-time employees working less than twenty hours a week who are equal to one-half of a full-time equivalent;

(6) Educational officers and other personnel of the department of education under the same pay schedule;

(7) Faculty of the University of Hawaii and the community college system;

(8) Personnel of the University of Hawaii and the community college system, other than faculty;

(9) Registered professional nurses;

(10) Institutional, health, and correctional workers;

(11) Firefighters;

(12) Police officers;

(13) Professional and scientific employees, who cannot be included in any of the other bargaining units;

(14) State law enforcement officers; [and]

(15) State and county ocean safety and water safety officers[.]; and

(16) State and county telecommunications and emergency dispatchers and other telecommunications dispatch personnel.

(b) Because of the nature of work involved and the essentiality of certain occupations that require specialized training, supervisory employees who are eligible for inclusion in units (9) through [(15)] (16) shall be included in units (9) through [(15),] (16), respectively, instead of unit (2) or (4)."

2. By amending subsection (d) to read:

"(d) For the purpose of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, the public employer of an appropriate bargaining unit shall mean the governor together with the following employers:

(1) For bargaining units (1), (2), (3), (4), (9), (10), (13), (14), and (15), the governor shall have six votes and the mayors, the chief justice, and the Hawaii health systems corporation board shall each have one vote if they have employees in the particular bargaining unit;

(2) For bargaining units (11) [and], (12), and (16), the governor shall have four votes and the mayors shall each have one vote;

(3) For bargaining units (5) and (6), the governor shall have three votes, the board of education shall have two votes, and the superintendent of education shall have one vote; and

(4) For bargaining units (7) and (8), the governor shall have three votes, the board of regents of the University of Hawaii shall have two votes, and the president of the University of Hawaii shall have one vote.

Any decision to be reached by the applicable employer group shall be on the basis of simple majority, except when a bargaining unit includes county employees from more than one county. In that case, the simple majority shall include at least one county."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Collective Bargaining; Public Employment; Telecommunications Dispatchers; Emergency Dispatchers

Description:

Allows telecommunications and emergency dispatchers and employees who perform similar functions employed by the State and counties to collectively bargain.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.