§89-2  Definitions.  As used in this
chapter:



"Appropriate bargaining unit" means
the unit designated to be appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining
pursuant to section 89-6.



"Arbitration" means the procedure
whereby parties involved in an impasse submit their differences to a third
party, whether a single arbitrator or an arbitration panel, for an arbitration
decision.  It may include mediation whereby the neutral third party is
authorized to assist the parties in a voluntary resolution of the impasse.



"Board" means the Hawaii labor
relations board created pursuant to section 89-5.



"Collective bargaining" means the
performance of the mutual obligations of the public employer and an exclusive
representative to meet at reasonable times, to confer and negotiate in good
faith, and to execute a written agreement with respect to wages, hours, amounts
of contributions by the State and counties to the Hawaii public employees
health fund, and other terms and conditions of employment, except that by any
such obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal, or be
required to make a concession.  For the purposes of this definition,
"wages" includes the number of incremental and longevity steps, the
number of pay ranges, and the movement between steps within the pay range and
between the pay ranges on a pay schedule under a collective bargaining
agreement.



"Cost items" means all items agreed
to in the course of collective bargaining that an employer cannot absorb under
its customary operating budgetary procedures and that require additional
appropriations by its respective legislative body for implementation.



"Day" means a calendar day unless
otherwise specified.



"Employee" or "public
employee" [Repeal and reenactment on July 1, 2010.  L Sp 2008, c 5, §1.]
means any person employed by a public employer, except elected and
appointed officials and other employees who are excluded from coverage in
section 89-6(g).



"Employee organization" [Repeal
and reenactment on July 1, 2010.  L Sp 2008, c 5, §1.] means any
organization of any kind in which public employees participate and which exists
for the primary purpose of dealing with public employers concerning grievances,
labor disputes, wages, hours, amounts of contributions by the State and counties
to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund or a voluntary
employees' beneficiary association trust, and other terms and conditions of
employment of public employees.



"Employer" or "public
employer" means the governor in the case of the State, the respective
mayors in the case of the counties, the chief justice of the supreme court in
the case of the judiciary, the board of education in the case of the department
of education, the board of regents in the case of the University of Hawaii, the
Hawaii health systems corporation board in the case of the Hawaii health
systems corporation, and any individual who represents one of these employers
or acts in their interest in dealing with public employees.  In the case of the
judiciary, the administrative director of the courts shall be the employer in
lieu of the chief justice for purposes which the chief justice determines would
be prudent or necessary to avoid conflict.



"Exclusive representative" means the
employee organization certified by the board under section 89-8 as the
collective bargaining agent to represent all employees in an appropriate
bargaining unit without discrimination and without regard to employee
organization membership.



"Impasse" means failure of a public
employer and an exclusive representative to achieve agreement in the course of
collective bargaining.  It includes any declaration of an impasse under section
89-11.



"Jurisdiction" means the State, the
city and county of Honolulu, the county of Hawaii, the county of Maui, the
county of Kauai, the judiciary, and the Hawaii health systems corporation.



"Legislative body" means the
legislature in the case of the State, including the judiciary, the department
of education, the University of Hawaii, and the Hawaii health systems
corporation; the city council, in the case of the city and county of Honolulu;
and the respective county councils, in the case of the counties of Hawaii,
Maui, and Kauai.



"Mediation" means assistance by a
neutral third party to resolve an impasse between the public employer and the
exclusive representative through interpretation, suggestion, and advice.



"Strike" means a public employee's
refusal, in concerted action with others, to report for duty, or the employee's
wilful absence from the employee's position, or the employee's stoppage of
work, or the employee's abstinence in whole or in part from the full, faithful,
and proper performance of the duties of employment, for the purpose of
inducing, influencing, or coercing a change in the conditions, compensation,
rights, privileges, or obligations of public employment; and except in the case
of absences authorized by public employers, includes such refusal, absence,
stoppage, or abstinence by any public employee out of sympathy or support for
any other public employee who is on strike or because of the presence of any
picket line maintained by any other public employee; provided that, nothing
herein shall limit or impair the right of any public employee to express or
communicate a complaint or opinion on any matter related to the conditions of
employment. [L 1970, c 171, pt of §2; am L 1977, c 159, §16; am L 1980, c 252,
§1; am L 1981, c 180, §2; am L 1984, c 254, §3; am L 1985, c 251, §3; gen ch
1985; am L 2000, c 253, §93; am L 2001, c 90, §8; am L 2002, c 232, §5; am L
2005, c 245, §§3, 8; am L 2007, c 294, §2]



 



Note



 



  In definition of "collective bargaining", reference
is made to "Hawaii public employees health fund" which is repealed
chapter 87.  For current provisions, see chapter 87A.



 



Revision Note



 



  Numeric designations deleted and definitions rearranged.



 



Attorney General Opinions



 



  Cost items are those that require new or additional
appropriation for implementation.  Att. Gen. Op. 72-10.



 



Case Notes



 



  Dates upon which plaintiffs were paid not a "cost
item" as that term is defined in this section.  125 F. Supp. 2d 1237.



  "Impasse" means failure after good-faith
negotiations.  56 H. 85, 528 P.2d 809.



  Though designated as an "incumbent" employee,
plaintiff was "essential employee" where plaintiff:  (1) received
notice by same means as essential employee; (2) was prohibited from striking;
and (3) was subject to discipline for not working if scheduled to work during a
strike.  87 H. 191, 953 P.2d 569.



  Where plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that bargaining over
pay dates was one of the core subjects of collective bargaining that triggers a
violation of article XIII, §2 of the Hawaii constitution, and failed to provide
the supreme court with their collective bargaining agreement to support their contention
that pay dates are bargainable, and these pay dates were not specifically
incorporated into their contract, the Act 355, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997
amendment to §78-13 to unilaterally alter the "traditional practice"
of being paid on the fifteenth day and last day of the month did not violate
their right to collectively bargain pay periods.  111 H. 168, 140 P.3d 401.