Aloha Subscriber,
This past week, HGEA secured a win on behalf of Hawaii County employees entitled to temporary hazard pay. It’s not the end to this story, but it gets us much closer to finally resolving this years-long dispute.
As you know, HGEA filed an appeal with the arbitrator over his flawed decision that would have limited your payout to a maximum of six months. We made a strong case that you kept the county running for two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and you deserve fair compensation for it. In the end the arbitrator saw it our way. That’s huge.
As that decision was pending, the union had been working to secure a fair hazard pay resolution through other means. After several positive and productive conversations with Mayor Kimo Alameda, it appeared the mayor was moving toward making a settlement offer with us as well as with UPW and SHOPO.
The county is now in the position of deciding whether to enforce the arbitrator’s award or move forward with a settlement option that was in motion prior to the appeal decision. Either way, we are pleased this is finally moving in the right direction.
As always, we’ll keep you posted on our progress. Until then, stay #HGEAStrong!
