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Recorded during an active HGEA strike, this call-in episode brought together three guests to discuss the strengths and vulnerabilities of Hawaii's labor union movement. J.N. Musto, executive director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, Tony Rutledge, financial secretary of HERE Local 5, and Bill Puette, director of the UH Center for Labor Education and Research, all offered broadly pro-union perspectives while differing on specific points of law and strategy. The concrete question at issue is whether Hawaii's public sector collective bargaining law gives workers meaningful recourse against a state employer that consistently rejects fact-finder recommendations and refuses binding arbitration. Musto argued that the state has never once accepted a fact-finder's report in the history of Chapter 89 bargaining, leaving unions with no neutral forum for resolving disputes. Rutledge emphasized the historical role unions played in raising workers' living standards, while Puette added comparative context, noting that unions raise wages relative to non-union workers and that the state actually saves money while employees are on strike by not paying their salaries.
Transcript
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