Abstract

Right to Strike in Hawaii

In a wild and woolly finale, Hawaii's legislature has just passed the most progressive law affecting government workers in the nation's history. It is the first law that treats a public worker as a first-class citizen. Everybody, police and fire fighters included, have the right to strike. Equal pay for equal work is state policy, built into the law. The law provides for the agency shop and for exclusive bargaining rights. Thirteen bargaining units have been set up, including one for supervisors and another for college professors. A five-member board administers the act two are from labor, two are from management, and there is an impartial chairman. There is only one restriction on the right to strike, If public health and safety are endangered, the new Hawaii Public Employment Relations Board makes recommendations which must be complied with by the striking union.