Mayors ask Lingle to join union talks on Monday

HONOLULU - Hawaii's four mayors on Thursday called on Gov. Linda Lingle to personally attend an on-the-record negotiation session next week now that state employee unions have submitted what the mayors called a viable preliminary proposal on pay cuts or furloughs.

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Maui County Mayor Charmaine Tavares said that the "framework" contract proposal from the four unions goes a long way toward resolving what has become a prolonged standoff with the governor.

Hannemann and Tavares said they also were speaking for the state's two other mayors, Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. of Kauai and William P. Kenoi of the Big Island.

The University of Hawaii, the state Department of Education, the state Judiciary and the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. also believe the union proposal is worthy of talks with Lingle herself, the mayors said.

"Our message to both the unions and the governor is, we want them to come together," Hannemann said at a press conference at Honolulu city hall.

"We understand that there will be a meeting . . . on Monday," he added, noting that all four mayors will be there. "We're still hopeful that the governor will choose to personally attend. Her personal involvement is critical at this time."

In an interview with The Maui News on Thursday, Tavares said it's "cumbersome" for the governor's chief negotiator, Marie Laderta, to shuttle between union negotiators and Lingle. Instead, it would be more productive to get all the principals, including the governor, in the same room to negotiate with union leaders, she said.

Tavares said the mayors met with union leaders on Monday to receive an informal presentation of their proposals. "We were pleased with the bones of it," she said. "We felt it was a good starting point for negotiations."

On Wednesday, the mayors and representatives of the University of Hawaii, the Board of Education and the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. met with the governor and "generally briefed her on what (the union's proposal) was," Tavares said.

She said the governor took the position that she would need to have the union's proposal in writing to give it more weight.

Tavares paraphrased Lingle, saying that "until we have something in writing . . . that's all it is is talk."

The mayor said a meeting was scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday at the Labor Relations Board in Honolulu for state, county and union officials and the federal mediator.

She said the mayors agreed not to disclose the specifics of the unions' proposal.

"I feel really good that we've gotten to this point," Tavares said. "We've gotten out of the gate, so to speak."

Russell Pang, the governor's spokesman, said no meeting to discuss a formal contract proposal has been scheduled. Laderta has asked the unions to discuss furloughs at a session Monday morning, and they have agreed, Pang added.

"That's the only meeting that we know of," he said. "It is to discuss furlough negotiations."

Lingle remains ready to have on-the-record contract talks with the unions "anytime, anywhere," Pang said.

The governor has direct control over 15,600 state workers. But 32,000 other employees of the university and the schools, health and Judiciary systems report to semi-independent governing boards.

Carolyn Tanaka, a spokeswoman for the university, said it "believes there is a way forward in negotiations that we can support."

Susan Pang Gochros, who heads up intergovernmental and community relations at the state Judiciary, said, "The Judiciary finds the conceptual framework proposed by the unions a good starting point for further discussion."

Whether intended or not, the mayors' public announcement that the unions have delivered a starting proposal and want an on-the-record meeting puts Lingle in a difficult position.

In the last week, she has repeatedly stated that neither she nor her representatives will attend informal talks with the unions and a federal mediator. Laderta abruptly walked out of a meeting on Monday because she said the unions had not submitted a formal proposal.

While the mayors would not detail the proposal, they said it recognizes that union members will have to sacrifice because of the state's drooping revenues. It also is flexible enough to allow for individual pacts with each union and different state and county employers.

"We think the unions have come a long way," Hanneman said.

Union representatives said little about their proposal or the prospects of formal talks on Monday. The largest of the four unions, HGEA, has been asking members who visit its Web page how they would react to a 5 percent pay cut or a furlough of one day per month.

The governor's office and the mayors submitted separate formal proposals to the HGEA and United Public Workers weeks ago. The governor and the Department of Education delivered an official proposal to the Hawaii State Teachers Association more than a week ago, the governor's office has said.