§89-6 Appropriate bargaining units. (a) All employees throughout the State within any of the following categories shall constitute an appropriate bargaining unit:

(1) Nonsupervisory employees in blue collar positions;

(2) Supervisory employees in blue collar positions;

(3) Nonsupervisory employees in white collar positions;

(4) Supervisory employees in white collar positions;

(5) Teachers and other personnel of the department of education under the same pay schedule, including part-time employees working less than twenty hours a week who are equal to one-half of a full-time equivalent;

(6) Educational officers and other personnel of the department of education under the same pay schedule;

(7) Faculty of the University of Hawaii and the community college system;

(8) Personnel of the University of Hawaii and the community college system, other than faculty;

(9) Registered professional nurses;

(10) Institutional, health, and correctional workers;

(11) Firefighters;

(12) Police officers;

(13) Professional and scientific employees, who cannot be included in any of the other bargaining units; and

(14) State law enforcement officers and state and county ocean safety and water safety officers.

(b) Because of the nature of work involved and the essentiality of certain occupations that require specialized training, supervisory employees who are eligible for inclusion in units (9) through (14) shall be included in units (9) through (14), respectively, instead of unit (2) or (4).

(c) The classification systems of each jurisdiction shall be the bases for differentiating blue collar from white collar employees, professional from institutional, health and correctional workers, supervisory from nonsupervisory employees, teachers from educational officers, and faculty from nonfaculty. In differentiating supervisory from nonsupervisory employees, class titles alone shall not be the basis for determination. The nature of the work, including whether a major portion of the working time of a supervisory employee is spent as part of a crew or team with nonsupervisory employees, shall be considered also.

(d) For the purpose of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, the public employer of an appropriate bargaining unit shall mean the governor together with the following employers:

(1) For bargaining units (1), (2), (3), (4), (9), (10), (13), and (14), the governor shall have six votes and the mayors, the chief justice, and the Hawaii health systems corporation board shall each have one vote if they have employees in the particular bargaining unit;

(2) For bargaining units (11) and (12), the governor shall have four votes and the mayors shall each have one vote;

(3) For bargaining units (5) and (6), the governor shall have three votes, the board of education shall have two votes, and the superintendent of education shall have one vote; and

(4) For bargaining units (7) and (8), the governor shall have three votes, the board of regents of the University of Hawaii shall have two votes, and the president of the University of Hawaii shall have one vote.

Any decision to be reached by the applicable employer group shall be on the basis of simple majority, except when a bargaining unit includes county employees from more than one county. In that case, the simple majority shall include at least one county.

(e) In addition to a collective bargaining agreement under subsection (d), each employer may negotiate, independently of one another, supplemental agreements that apply to their respective employees; provided that any supplemental agreement reached between the employer and the exclusive representative shall not extend beyond the term of the applicable collective bargaining agreement and shall not require ratification by employees in the bargaining unit.

(f) The following individuals shall not be included in any appropriate bargaining unit or be entitled to coverage under this chapter:

(1) Elected or appointed official;

(2) Member of any board or commission; provided that nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit a member of a collective bargaining unit from serving on a governing board of a charter school, on the state public charter school commission, or as a charter school authorizer established under chapter 302D;

(3) Top-level managerial and administrative personnel, including the department head, deputy or assistant to a department head, administrative officer, director, or chief of a state or county agency or major division, and legal counsel;

(4) Secretary to top-level managerial and administrative personnel under paragraph (3);

(5) Individual concerned with confidential matters affecting employee-employer relations;

(6) Part-time employee working less than twenty hours per week, except part-time employees included in unit (5);

(7) Temporary employee of three months' duration or less;

(8) Employee of the executive office of the governor or a household employee at Washington Place;

(9) Employee of the executive office of the lieutenant governor;

(10) Employee of the executive office of the mayor;

(11) Staff of the legislative branch of the State;

(12) Staff of the legislative branches of the counties, except employees of the clerks' offices of the counties;

(13) Any commissioned and enlisted personnel of the Hawaii national guard;

(14) Inmate, kokua, patient, ward, or student of a state institution;

(15) Student help;

(16) Staff of the Hawaii labor relations board;

(17) Employees of the Hawaii national guard youth challenge academy; or

(18) Employees of the office of elections.

(g) Where any controversy arises under this section, the board shall, pursuant to chapter 91, make an investigation and, after a hearing upon due notice, make a final determination on the applicability of this section to specific individuals, employees, or positions. [L 1970, c 171, pt of §2; am L 1973, c 36, §1; am L 1975, c 162, §1; am L 1976, c 13, §1; am L 1977, c 191, §1; am L 1987, c 184, §1 and c 311, §1; am L 1988, c 394, §1 and c 399, §2; gen ch 1993; am L 1996, c 89, §5; am L 2000, c 253, §96; am L 2002, c 65, §4; am L 2005, c 202, §3 and c 245, §§5, 8; am L 2006, c 38, §32 and c 298, §§7, 25; am L 2007, c 115, §§3, 16 and c 294, §2; am L 2008, c 16, §18; am L Sp 2008, c 5, §1; am L 2010, c 106, §2; am L 2012, c 130, §5; am L 2013, c 137, §2]

Case Notes

Cited: 131 H. 82 (App.), 315 P.3d 233 (2011).