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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 22, 2010

UPW reaches tentative deal with Hawaii counties on new contract

Advertiser Staff

The United Public Workers have reached an agreement with the four county governments on a new collective bargaining contract that would go through June 30, 2011.

Bill Brennan, spokesman for Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, said that a copy of the tentative agreement was sent to Gov. Linda Lingle's office this afternoon.
There are both state and city workers who are members of UPW's Unit 1. Therefore, Lingle must also sign off on the agreement before it can go to the workers for a ratification vote.
Lingle is in Washington, D.C., and is not expected back until tomorrow.
The news was announced through a press release issued by the Hawaii Council of Mayors this afternoon.
“After months of discussions, we’re pleased that we’ve been able to put forth a new labor proposal for public employees represented by the United Public Workers,” the statement said. “While the terms were not included in Governor Lingle’s original public employer proposal to the UPW, we believe the state will find this to be a reasonable settlement that reflects the most recent position the governor communicated to us.”
Details of the agreement were not immediately available.
The release added: ““We’re grateful that the UPW recognized the need for shared sacrifices during a very difficult economic period and came to the table ready to collaborate on paring spending. The public is very dependent on the services provided by UPW members and we believe this agreement will ensure we can continue to fulfill our obligations.”
Further: “The mayors stepped up our involvement after talks between the state and UPW broke down late last year. We’re very pleased that we were able to bring the parties back to the table and gain the cooperation of the UPW leadership throughout this process.”
UPW’s Unit 1 consists of about 10,000 mostly blue-collar government workers including janitors and truck drivers.
Unit 10, comprising primarily state prison, health care and emergency workers, reached an arbitrated settlement with the state in January.