STATE AND UHPA REACH AGREEMENT ON UNPRECEDENTED SIX-YEAR CONTRACT
For Immediate Release: March 25, 2004
HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle announced today that the State has reached an agreement with the University of Hawai`i Professional Assembly (UHPA) for an unprecedented six-year contract. Upon ratification by the 3,148 UHPA members statewide, the new contract will be the longest collective bargaining agreement in State history.
The contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 2003, and will run through July 1, 2009, will total $162.8 million over six years. The State will contribute $123.9 million, while the University will contribute a total of $38.9 million in the last three years.
“The successful outcome of these negotiations demonstrates what can be achieved between the unions and government employers when the parties are allowed to bargain in good faith, without having their hands tied by a third-party arbitrator,” said Governor Lingle. “This agreement also says a lot about the caliber and character of our professors who recognize the State’s budget shortfalls and are voluntarily taking less in the first three years while our economy continues to strengthen.”
The terms of the new contract are as follows:
A 1 percent salary increase for the first year, retroactive to July 1, 2003.
A 3 percent salary increase for the second year, effective July 1, 2004.
A 2 percent salary increase in the third year, effective July 1, 2005.
A 5 percent salary increase in the fourth year, of which the State will contribute 4 percent and the University will contribute 1 percent, effective July 1, 2006.
A 9 percent salary increase in the fifth year, of which the State will contribute 6 percent and the University will contribute 3 percent, effective July 1, 2007.
An 11 percent salary increase in the sixth year, of which the State will contribute 8 percent and the University will contribute 3 percent, effective July 1, 2008.
“One of the overarching factors that helped guide us during the negotiations was the common commitment to ensure student instruction within the University system would continue,” said Ted Hong, the State’s chief negotiator. “With open and meaningful dialogue at the bargaining table, all the parties were able to reach this historic six-year contract. The length of the contract will promote stability and retention among faculty, will assist the University in its long-term planning, and will allow the State to better plan its future expenditures.”
“I want to commend Ted Hong; Ed Yuen, chief negotiator for U.H.; J.N. Musto, executive director of UHPA; and Carol Catanzariti from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, who all worked diligently throughout this negotiation process to reach a fair agreement that is in the best interest of the University, the faculty, the students and the taxpayers,” said the Governor. “I also want to thank the University students, who know better than anyone the tremendous value our professors bring, for getting involved in the process and supporting their professors.”
“I would like to thank all the members of the negotiating team for their good hard work in resolving this contract without interrupting the semester,” said U.H. President Evan Dobelle. “I believe that this contract for our professors recognizes their critical role in the education mission of the university and the need to provide them with competitive and just compensation.”
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For more information, contact:
Ted Hong
Chief Negotiator
Phone: 587-6893
Lenny Klompus
Senior Advisor – Communications
Phone: 586-7705
Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: 586-0043
