STAND. COM. REP. NO.2990

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.B. No. 2276

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 2276, H.D. 2, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend collective bargaining laws to enable parties to agree that non-cost items may become effective prior to legislative approval of cost items.

Testimony in support of the measure was received from the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly. The Office of Collective Bargaining submitted concerns over the fragmenting of a collective bargaining agreement's implementation. The Hawaii Government Employees Association testified in opposition to the measure.

Your Committee finds that in collective bargaining, it is common that concessions of cost items be traded off against reciprocal concessions on non-cost items. This may be the only way to reach an agreement and avoid a strike in many cases. Unfortunately, recent amendments to the collective bargaining law have made trade-offs between cost items and non-cost items difficult. By granting the negotiating parties the flexibility to agree that non-cost items are valid and enforceable, collective bargaining will be more effective.

However, your Committee is concerned that the flexibility proposed under the measure is overly broad and would encourage parties to attempt to open up any provision of the collective bargaining agreement that in their minds, is unsatisfactory. Such an occurrence could hinder the expeditious negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement.

In light of this concern, your Committee has amended the measure by:

(1) Restoring the existing statutory language that stated the grievance and impasse procedures would be valid and enforceable regardless of whether cost items have been approved by the appropriate legislative bodies; and

(2) Restricting the scope of the enforceability of non-cost items to only those non-cost items that are not tied to or bargained against cost items.

In establishing that only non-cost items that are not tied to or bargained against cost items may be enforceable prior to the approval of cost items by the appropriate legislative bodies, your Committee would like to make clear that the identification of cost and non-cost items that are tied to or bargained against one another should be determined by the negotiating parties.

Your Committee believes that the amended measure may facilitate the parties' ability to bargain cost and non-cost items without unduly lengthening the collective bargaining process.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2276, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2276, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

____________________________

BOB NAKATA, Chair