§89-3  Rights of employees.  [Repeal
and reenactment on July 1, 2010.  L Sp 2008, c 5, §1.]  Employees
shall have the right of self-organization and the right to form, join, or
assist any employee organization for the purpose of bargaining collectively through
representatives of their own choosing on questions of wages, hours, and other
terms and conditions of employment, including retiree health benefit
contributions, and to engage in lawful, concerted activities for the purpose of
collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, free from
interference, restraint, or coercion.  An employee shall have the right to
refrain from any or all of such activities, except for having a payroll
deduction equivalent to regular dues remitted to an exclusive representative as
provided in section 89-4. [L 1970, c 171, pt of §2; am L 1981, c 180, §3; am L
2000, c 253, §94; am L 2005, c 245, §§4, 8; am L 2007, c 294, §2]



 



Attorney General Opinions



 



  Unilateral wage increases by employer pending representation
elections as constituting interference, restraint or coercion.  Att. Gen. Op.
74-6.



 



Case Notes



 



  Strike found unlawful and therefore not a protected activity
under this section.  60 H. 361, 590 P.2d 993.



  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.



  As §84-13 prohibited the posting of campaign materials on a
union bulletin board on the fourth floor of a state building, and nothing in chapter
89 was explicitly contrary to, or inconsistent with, that construction, there
was no conflict between §84-13 and this section.  116 H. 73, 170 P.3d 324.



  Where the posting of campaign materials on a union bulletin
board on the fourth floor of a state building was prohibited by §84-13, and was
thus not lawful, the postings were not protected under the express language of
this section (2006). 116 H. 73, 170 P.3d 324.



  Where the State, as employer, expressed a
"legitimate" concern with campaign materials postings on the union
bulletin board on the fourth floor of the department of transportation
building, inasmuch as the supervisors at the department believed them to be in
violation of §84-13 and an ethics commission bulletin entitled "Campaign Restrictions
for State Officials and State Employees", and there was no Hawaii labor
relations board finding of "union animus", the removal of campaign
materials from the union bulletin board did not infringe on the "mutual
aid or protection" clause of this section (2006).  116 H. 73, 170 P.3d 324.