STAND. COM. REP. NO. 402

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1523

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 1523 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PRIVATE SECTOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to expand the types of employees protected by the Hawaii Employment Relations Act to include independent contractors and all individuals subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the IATSE Local 665, AFL-CIO; International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 50; Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; Hawaii State AFL-CIO; Labor Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association-OPEIU Local 50, AFL-CIO; International Longshore and Warehouse Union Hawaii; University of Hawaii Professional Assembly; International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142; Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council; Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association; Pride at Work-Hawaiʻi; and numerous individuals.

Your Committee finds that, given the current uncertainty at the federal level, expanding union protections to include private sector employees is a necessary step to safeguard the local workforce. Due to their prevalence, unions play an especially prominent role in shaping the State's labor market. Unions benefit their members and the broader communities in which they reside by fostering safer workplaces, higher wages, and increased standards of living. This measure will extend these benefits to the private sector by expanding the types of employees protected by the Hawaii Employment Relations Act to include those subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act and independent contractors.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a blank appropriation amount for the Hawaii Labor Relations Board to serve the expanded population of protected employees pursuant to the measure;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1523, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1523, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Technology,

________________________________

HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair