HSTA president tells convention delegates why the union rejected a contract extension

Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association President Osa Tui, Jr. revealed to delegates at the union’s 2025 State Convention that the state had offered educators a two-year extension on its existing contract with annual 4% increases without the possibility of negotiating any other terms or working conditions. After careful consideration, HSTA leadership rejected the offer, he said.

Under the proposal floated by the state, HSTA’s current collective bargaining agreement, which expires in June 2027, would have been extended for two years with the 4% across-the-board raises each year. However, the state was not willing to negotiate other working conditions, compensation, or any other issues other than the annual raises at this time.

“Your Negotiations Team, after much deliberation, came to the conclusion that we not take the offer,” Tui said, noting that similar proposals had been made in the past to “keep us quiet” but were ultimately rejected.

In 2021, HSTA rejected a similar offer to extend the 2019-2023 contract by two years. The ability to return to the negotiations table in 2023 resulted in a number of improvements in the current collective bargaining agreement, most especially the establishment of Class VIII on the salary schedule. The creation of a new Class VIII on the salary schedule gave many senior teachers a path to higher pay, something that would not have been achieved had the union agreed to raises alone without other provisions being bargained.

Speaking Saturday during the union’s 52nd annual convention at McKinley High, Tui compared today’s starting and top teacher salaries with pay dating back to HSTA’s first contract in the early 1970s. Adjusting for inflation with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, he showed that while starting salaries had slightly outpaced inflation over the past five decades, the highest salaries had not kept up — even with the upcoming introduction of a new salary classification, Class VIII.

While a 10-month teacher at the top of the salary schedule will be paid $101,861 next school year, that top salary would need to be $120,805 to have kept up with inflation over the years, Tui said.

Tui noted that the State Salary Commission is proposing raises ranging from 35% to 48% for executive branch members, judges, and legislators over the next six years.

“These are just some of the reasons why your Negotiations Team said no to accepting the 4% and 4% for two additional years without being able to have a say on other items, like hazard pay,” Tui added.

Looking ahead, Tui warned that if the union didn’t make headway on key issues, striking could be an option when the current contract expires in two years.

“Unlike other bargaining units that don’t have the option to strike, we do. While we can’t strike now, perhaps that’s what it’s going to take after our current contract expires. We need to get out of that bucket of crabs with others trying to pull us back into the bucket as we just try to get on par with our counterparts across the country with similar costs of living,” Tui said.

“But we won’t do it unless we stand strong. We won’t do it unless we stand united. We won’t win if we don’t fight so it’s time to start getting into that fighting spirit!” Tui added.

Tui also accused Gov. Josh Green of ignoring his repeated requests for a meeting to discuss temporary hazard pay for educators. Tui detailed how requests to secure a hazard pay settlement for teachers had been stonewalled, even as the state made multimillion-dollar payouts to other state employees.

“I have repeatedly put in requests to speak to the governor,” Tui said. “He refuses to meet on the subject; refuses to listen to your stories.”

Tui recounted that after a governor’s staffer advised HSTA on the possibility of fast-tracking a temporary hazard pay agreement, subsequent inquiries were met with claims that the information had been “misinterpreted” — a suggestion Tui dismissed as “BS.”

Amid federal funding uncertainty that has left temporary hazard pay and other issues in limbo during this legislative session, Tui contrasted the risks taken by classroom teachers with the significant payouts received by some government office workers.

“While you, our members, were in classrooms putting your lives on the line, office workers who were shielded from interacting with the public got payouts of $20,000,” Tui added.

HSTA remains committed to fighting for meaningful improvements—both in compensation and in working conditions—when full contract negotiations resume. Teachers deserve a voice in shaping their professional futures, and HSTA will continue to ensure that voice is heard.