In a decision that will have wide ranging implications for the state budget, Honolulu Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled Gov. Linda Lingle’s plan to furlough state workers three days a month is unconstitutional.
Leaders of the three public worker unions which filed suit against the governor celebrated Thursday’s ruling, saying it was a victory for Hawaii’s working families.
“No doubt the governor's plan to implement furloughs would have directly and severely affected members,” said UPW State Director Dayton Nakanelua.
The furlough plan would have cut wages of public workers by 14 to 16 percent, saving the state $688 million over the next two fiscal years. Lingle announced the plan June 1 after a revised economic forecast by the Council on Revenues showed an additional tax revenue shortfall of $730 million, on top of the $2 billion deficit forecasted earlier in the year.
In court State Attorney General Mark Bennett argued the governor was within her right to order furloughs because of the state’s severe financial crisis. He said Lingle’s authority to act was implicit under Hawaii law.
“The statute (89-9D) says specifically that the governor has the right to relieve an employee from duty because of lack of work or other legitimate reason,” Bennett argued, adding that Hawaii and the rest of nation were facing an economic crisis not known since the Great Depression.
But attorneys for the Hawaii Government Employees Association, Hawaii State Teachers Association and the United Public Workers argued otherwise, saying the governor could not act unilaterally on furloughs outside of the collective bargaining process.
“The governor's action infringes the right to negotiate these core subjects,” said HSTA attorney Herbert Takahashi, “particularly when the state's purpose as stated by the governor herself is to achieve labor cost savings through reductions in wages and benefits.”
Sakamoto ruled in favor of the unions, issuing an injunction that blocks the governor’s furlough plan from moving forward. The judge said it was unclear whether the state’s current economic crisis outweighed the constitutional issue of collective bargaining, which is guaranteed in Article XIII, Section 2 of Hawaii’s Constitution.
“This is not an act of war (and) this is not an act of natural disaster,” Sakamoto said of the state’s finances. “It's unclear at this point whether the emergency that is being put forth outweighs a constitutional violation that this court has found.”
In the only victory for the state, Sakamoto ruled Gov. Lingle does have the authority to restrict spending to the Department of Education and the University of Hawaii. Since the governor has no control over employees in those departments, Lingle ordered budget restrictions equal to furloughs of three days per month.
“The governor's furlough as pointed out by the state does not extend to employees of the DOE and to that extent the union's argument is rejected,” Sakamoto ruled.
The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly was not a party to thelawsuits that stopped the governor's furlough plan but supported their sister unions' efforts. "This could have been the day we lost collective bargaining," said a relieved UHPA Executive Director John Musto after the hearing.
Before Thursday’s decision Lingle warned she would be forced to layoff state workers under her control if the furlough plan was blocked. After receiving word of the court’s decision the governor was noncommittal.
“We'll wait and see how this all plays out,” Lingle told Khon2. "We can't afford the government we have. We have to make adjustments.”
Sakamoto did not rule whether the governor would have to follow layoff procedures under the collective bargaining process since an order by Lingle has yet to be issued.
Lingle said Thursday that if layoffs were needed, she may be forced to layoff as many as 3,900 state workers after tax collections at the end of June came about $100 million lower than originally projected. Last month the governor said the number of potential layoffs was 2,500 - or 14 workers for every million dollars worth of deficit.
HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira expressed hope Lingle would not resort to the threat of layoffs now that her furlough plan was found unconstitutional. He said all four unions were prepared to head back to the bargaining table for face-to-face talks with the governor.
“We're obviously pleased with the ruling but at the same time we'll note that the ruling does not solve the problem that we all face. We are ready and willing to begin bargaining with the governor in an attempt to try to resolve at least our share of the revenue shortfall that the state faces.”
After the court’s ruling Pereira said he and the other union heads would seek another meeting with a federal mediator to try and reach a new labor agreement with the state.
Andrew may be reached at ph. 368-7273.
