Bargaining Unit 05 members ratify two-year contract

Bargaining Unit 05 (BU05) employees of the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) and public charter schools have voted to ratify a new two-year contract. The Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) is the exclusive BU05 representative.

Eighty-seven percent, or 2,728 of 3,148 electronic ballots cast, approved the contract effective July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2023.

Once a tentative agreement was reached on May 22 and the HSTA Negotiations Committee and Board of Directors overwhelmingly recommended ratification, the HSTA informed BU05 members of the development via peer-to-peer and online communication methods. HSTA publicly posted the agreement along with a member message, comprehensive summary and rationale, frequently asked questions, and voting information. Our union also held a live briefing and Q&A sessions to address members’ questions and concerns before mailing voting ratification credentials to members’ homes.

HSTA Negotiations Chair and Kona Chapter member Paul Daugherty said, “With the ratification vote occurring so late in the school year and into the summer, the Negotiations Team anticipated that teachers would be busy with other things. We do appreciate all of our teachers who participated and exercised your right to vote to ratify the successor agreement. Yes, the settlement was disappointing for many, but it was the best we could get during a pandemic and its economic consequences. Mahalo to all of those who participated in the ratification.”

Now that ratification is complete, we will continue to aggressively pursue the restoration of 21 hours of job-embedded professional development with the Board of Education since it was not funded by the Legislature.

We will also continue discussions to modify and improve the current Teacher Assignment and Transfer Program (TATP) and to incorporate gender-neutral language into the contract.

For our charter schools, we will begin to address any supplemental agreements necessary to meet their unique learning and teaching environments.

Additionally, we will continue to monitor the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Hawaii Department of Health to ensure that safe practices are in place for our members for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.

While this status-quo contract leaves much to be discussed, we’re satisfied that the short two-year duration will allow HSTA to begin this process once more in a little over a year’s time with the next permanent superintendent.

If you have any questions or comments on the ratification, please submit them here.