Dear Members and Supporters, As the United Public Workers (UPW) Government Affairs Manager, I am pleased to share with you our legislative priorities for the upcoming year. These priorities reflect our commitment to ensuring that public workers are treated with the respect and fairness they deserve.
- UPW will be advocating for improving retirement benefits for public employees. This includes amending §89-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) to allow exclusive representatives to negotiate retirement benefits during collective bargaining. We will also be supporting legislation that will revert the vesting period from 10 to 5 years. We believe these legislative actions will help in addressing vacancies at the state and county levels by encouraging former public employees to reenter service, as well as retaining existing employees.
- UPW will be supporting the Judiciary’s supplemental budget request for $1.71M that will provide 181 eligible employees in Bargaining Units 1 and 10 with Temporary Hazard Pay (THP) that was earned during the COVID-19 pandemic. This amount was negotiated as part of a settlement agreement between the Judiciary and UPW.
- UPW will also be strongly supporting legislation that provides paid family leave for state and county workers. We firmly believe that providing public employees with this benefit could also help to address vacancies statewide.
- We will also support legislation that will strengthen unions and employee rights. That includes protecting the right to organize, ensuring civil service protections under Chapter 76, HRS, and safeguarding collective bargaining rights provided under Chapter 89, HRS.
- We will continue to oppose privatization of government functions and services. Privatization results in a loss of jobs, transparency, accountability, and quality of service for the public. Public services should be provided by public employees who are accountable to the communities they serve.
We appreciate your support as we work towards achieving these goals for the betterment of our state and our union. Together, we can make a difference.
In Solidarity,
Kamakana Kaimuloa
Government Affairs Manager
United Public Workers
