STAND. COM. REP. NO.1531

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: H.B. No. 171

H.D. 1

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 171, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to restore the right of public employees in collective bargaining units (2), (3), (4), (6), (8), (9), (10), and (13) to participate in a strike, in lieu of submitting their labor disputes to mandatory arbitration.

At this time, only public employees in collective bargaining units (1), (5), and (7) have the right to participate in a strike. This measure would restore the status quo by requiring only public employees in collective bargaining unit (11), firefighters; and collective bargaining unit (12), police officers, to submit their labor disputes to mandatory arbitration, in lieu of participating in a strike.

Forty years of the research and the literature in the public sector interest arbitration area have addressed the so-called "narcotic" or "freezing" effect of interest arbitration. Those terms describe the condition where the parties fail to engage in real bargaining and maintain inflexible positions in the hopes of relying upon the results of the arbitration procedure to realize their ultimate position. This approach can be very destructive in that it deflects the decision-making authority from the parties themselves and grants that right to the arbitration panel. No matter what competence the panel may possess, it can never achieve the same degree of beneficial results that may occur when the parties themselves face the issues and resolve them on their own.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, section 100, subsection (d) of section 89-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, so that public employees collective bargaining units (2), (3), (4), (6), (8), (9), (10), and (13) are explicitly given the right to participate in a strike like public employees in collective bargaining units (1), (5), and (7);

(2) Repealing all provisions in the collective bargaining law relating to the designation of (essential) employees who fill essential positions, and the designation of essential positions that are necessary to be worked in order to avoid or remove any imminent or present danger to the public health or safety; and

(3) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 171, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 171, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair