STORY SUMMARY>>>
Three public worker unions filed lawsuits in First Circuit Court Tuesday claiming Gov. Linda Lingle’s plan to furlough state workers three days a month is unconstitutional.
“Her imposed furloughs are unfair and unconstitutional, and we were forced to take legal action to prevent implementation, and the harm it would do to government employees and their families,” said Randy Perreira, executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association.
Separate lawsuits were filed by United Public Workers and the Hawaii State Teachers Association.
All three lawsuits claim the governor has failed to negotiate future wages and other issues in good faith under the state's collective bargaining agreement. The unions are asking for a preliminary injunction, preventing Lingle from moving forward with her furlough plan.
Earlier Tuesday the governor repeated her stance on mass layoffs in the event her furlough plan is blocked. Lingle said she would have no choice but to layoff state workers, as many as 10,000, in order to balance the state’s biennium budget in the face of a deep recession.
"If the contracts expire June 30th then all layoff provisions from our perspective then go away with the contract,” said the governor. “So we will be able to lay people off immediately; we would give them a notice and that would be it.”
Senate President Colleen Hanabusa agreed the governor must balance the budget under the state constitution.
“Come July 1,” said Hanabusa, “she's got to have a budget in place or the whole government shuts down. So it's not simply a matter of just a furlough issue, it's a matter of whether the budget is going to be there.”
In a live internet address to the state earlier this month, the governor said she was forced to find additional savings of $730 million because of the latest economic projections by the Council on Revenues.
In the somber speech Lingle said furloughing state employees three days a month would realize savings of $688 million. She noted the Department of Education and the University of Hawaii would have to realize savings equivalent to furloughs, since she has no authority over those state employees.
The governor’s plan announced June 1 was immediately attacked by public worker unions, who noted the furloughs amounted to a cut in pay of nearly 14 percent and state workers were already paying more for health insurance.
Labor attorney Michael Nauyokas told Khon2 the state is in uncharted territory, since no Hawaii governor has had to order furloughs for public workers. Nauyokas believes the unions will succeed in winning a temporary restraining order against the governor’s plan.
“I would expect that they'd get a TRO…to keep her from doing (the furloughs),” he said. “Then they'll have kind of like a small trial where they'll put on evidence for a temporary injunction.”
As far as mass layoffs are concerned, Nauyokas does not believe the governor’s authority could be challenged once public worker contracts expire June 30.
“It's my opinion that she can go forward with layoffs and probably can't be stopped legally.”
Andrew may be reached at ph. 368-7273.
