Thank you to the members that submitted written contract proposals to the 2009-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Many of the contract proposals were well thought-out and show the effort of members trying to improve our Unit 1 and Unit 10 contracts.
The Unit 10 and Unit 1 Full Negotiating Committees met on Saturday, May 10 and May 17, 2008, respectively, to review the contract proposals. Your Chief Steward, as a member on the Full Negotiating Committee, reviewed, discussed, and voted on the contract proposals to be recommended to be submitted to the Employer for negotiations. Thank you to all the Chief Stewards that participated at the all day meetings on their own personal time.
On June 3 and 4, 2008, the final contract proposals for the Unit 10 and Unit 1 negotiations were approved by the respective Full Negotiating Committees and submitted to the Employer on June 16, 2008.
The newly elected members of the UPW State Executive Board participated on a AFSCME Study Tour to the International Union Headquarters in Washington D.C. on April 14-18, 2008. The work sessions were informational and educational.
The UPW State Executive Board held its first meeting for 2008 at the UPW Henry B. Epstein Building, in Honolulu, on Saturday, May 31, 2008. The all day meeting provided the 33-member Board an opportunity to review and approve UPW programs and investments. A summary of the SEB meeting is in this issue of Malama Pono.
Democratic Party of Hawaii Convention
The Democratic Party of Hawaii Convention was held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel on May 23, 24 and 25, 2008. UPW State Executive Board member Edmond Arquero was elected as a National Alternate Delegate and I was elected as a National Delegate. As part of the Hawaii delegation, both of us will be traveling to Denver, Colorado to attend the National Democratic Party Convention on August 25-28, 2008.
Me ke aloha pumehana!
Dayton M. Nakanelua
State Director