Professors’ Labor Pact Ends One of Two Hawaii Education Strikes

University of Hawaii professors have agreed on a new labor contract, ending a 13-day strike that had kept more than 40,000 college students out of classes.

However, public school teachers returned to picket lines Wednesday, the ninth day of missed classes for 180,000 public school students. Talks with the state were to resume later in the day.

Grades from kindergarten to graduate school had been shut down since April 5, unprecedented in any state. All classes at the university’s 10 campuses were expected to resume today.

“We’re very pleased with the results,” Gov. Ben Cayetano said.

He called the agreement “a win for the faculty, the university and a win for the state.” He said it was a “good contract, given the state’s ability to pay.”

The governor said issues in the public school teachers’ strike are different and negotiations there have been “very, very difficult.”

The university agreement would increase teachers’ salaries up to 12% over two years. Union officials declined to give further details until they could present the package to their members for ratification.

Alexander Malahoff, president of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, which represents 3,100 faculty members, called it “a very fair settlement.”

The public school teachers are seeking pay raises totaling 22% over four years, retroactive to July 1999. The state offer just before the strike was a 12% increase over two years.