Off The Beat: Snails Move Faster Than Hawaii Labor Relations Board
Hawaii’s teachers are working under a contract they say the state unfairly foisted upon them. The future of collective bargaining potentially hangs in the balance.
But if the Hawaii Labor Relations Board has made it a priority to resolve this contract dispute between the state and teachers, it sure works in weird ways.
We understand that the board has a lot of legal issues to work through.
But we’ve live-blogged legal hearings before — and this just isn’t how it’s done.
The board consistently schedules half-day hearings — several days apart. Thursday was the fourth day of hearings, with the board recessing for the weekend at noon.
At the end of the morning, the board indicated it was ready to start hearing from witnesses — on Tuesday.
A judge in state or federal court would run a much tighter ship. Witnesses would be called ahead of time and waiting in the wings. Hearings would last more than just a few hours. They’d go all day.
What kind of message does it send to teachers — and others?
This is an important issue for Hawaii. So where’s the urgency?
