Gov Asks Teachers Union to Try Federal Mediation

Here’s the latest in the Hawaii teachers contract dispute.

Our educationblog reports:

Teachers union leaders are deciding how they want to respond to Gov. Abercrombie’s request this week to give federal mediation a chance in resolving a long-standing labor dispute.

Earlier this evening, Hawaii State Teachers Association President Wil Okabe posted a nearly three-minute voicemail he received two days ago from the governor on the union’s Facebook page.

Abercrombie kept a cordial tone throughout the message in his request for Okabe to consider trying the federal process to settle the teacher contract issue.

Union leaders insist teachers have ratified the contract offer they shot down in January in a May re-vote. The governor, however, says that offer was no longer on the table.

The two sides have not set down for formal negotiations in months. Instead, they’ve been trading letters, as Civil Beat has reported.

Still outstanding is a decision from the Hawaii Labor Relations Board on the case HSTA filed against the state over a year ago based on claims that the governor violated the union’s collective bargaining rights when he unilaterally imposed the “last, best, final” offer in July 2011.