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Article XIII - The Source of Many Problems with Hawaii's Governments

During the last con con I watched our former governor skillfully cast in stone the dual demons of government employee unionism coupled with civil service status. His law firm at that time represented both the HGEA and the UPW. This article bears serious scrutiny.

6 Comments

Comment by Curtis Muraoka on May 3, 2008 at 12:24am: I think it is too simple to cast blame on the unions. They should be partners rather than adversaries in remaking our government. Roger Takabayashi and Mike McCartney should be key players in reshaping the the DOE/BOE.

Now that the old school union mentality has been ousted (i.e. Gary Rodrigues, et al) perhaps it is time for new dialog. Dayton Nakanelua (UPW) needs to be steered away from old school shysters like Herb Takahashi.

The ConCon could be a brand new day for Unions as well. As long as they don't feel threatened specifically, and their perspectives are taken into account, we may very well get some movement from them as well.

I may be naive, so please take this with a grain of salt...

Comment by Peter Kay on May 4, 2008 at 10:14am: I couldn't agree more. Everyone has and should bring their own interests to the table. I would like to believe that respectful, informed discussion would, at the very least, bring clarity to our differences and at most allow us to create win-win arrangements.

Hawaii's Unions are a fundamental aspect of our culture. I'd prefer to embrace and involve them to help address problems we can all agree on.

Comment by Rick M. on May 12, 2008 at 3:20pm: Another of the really great things that will come out of this Constitutional Convention is that we can become a "Right to Work" state. The Teacher's union and the government employees union have way too much power now. They have cushy jobs that the union protects and don't do anything for us.

Comment by Dan L. on May 13, 2008 at 5:01am: Union membership should definitely not be a constitutional issue. It's a matter for law, not constitution. (I agree with Peter that unions are fundamental to what makes Hawai‘i a great place to live.)

Comment by Richard A. Heaton on May 13, 2008 at 6:36am: I quite agree with Dan L. that union membership should not be a constitutional issue. That is precisely why we should repeal Article XIII.

Comment by John Mussack on May 15, 2008 at 3:52pm: As with everything else in the world, unions have good points and bad points. One of the bad points is that HGEA prevents accountability in government departments, because all administrators (at least in the DOE as far as I know) are members of HGEA. It is Article XIII which allows this. The sole function of unions is to protect its members to the greatest extent possible. If we want accountability in government departments, then the unionization of administrators will have to be modified significantly.
For the same reasoning, I think it would be unwise to perceive unions as bona fide partners in reshaping the government. By definition, their one and only interest is to protect union members.
The same is true of the teachers union, by the way. When the DOE was retaliating against me for whistleblowing, my union field representative told me bluntly, "John, you've got to stop speaking up on behalf of your [special education] students. The district is going to hold your feet to the fire, and they're going to fire you for it. And when they do, HSTA isn't going to help you, because the welfare of students is not the business of HSTA -- the welfare of teachers is the only business of HSTA."