HONOLULU (AP)/ TGI — No negotiations are scheduled in the public school teachers and University of Hawaii faculty contract disputes but union leaders hope talks to end their strikes can resume early this week. Hawaii State Teachers Association Executive Director
HONOLULU (AP)/ TGI —
No negotiations are scheduled in the public school teachers and University of Hawaii faculty contract disputes but union leaders hope talks to end their strikes can resume early this week.
Hawaii State Teachers Association Executive Director Joan Husted said Gov. Ben Cayetano indicated Friday there were some things he wanted to look at. She said the union is waiting to hear from the governor.
Teachers took the weekend off from the picket line but planned to be out in force at their schools again Monday. All public schools will be closed, including Laupahoehoe High School on the Big Island, which had planned to hold classes for its 20-member senior class.
University of Hawaii Professional Assembly Executive Director J. N. Musto said the faculty union has unsuccessfully attempted to make contact with the state administration through informal channels.
He said the union will talk to the federal mediator Monday in hopes of arranging a meeting with the state.
Both unions said they will go to court, possibly as early as Monday, to prevent the state from halting its contribution to the teachers and faculty health insurance.
Cayetano said he considers the strikers to be on “unauthorized leave” and that the state will not pay its share of their health insurance.
“Taxpayers should not have to foot the bill when public employees choose to stop working,” he said.
Meanwhile, school officials have expressed concern that some students may be skipping meals because of the teachers strike.
Thousands of students receive free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches at school.
Department of Education Food Service Branch director Eugene Kaneshiro said the school breakfast and lunch, especially the lunch, sometimes are the main meal for students.
Kaneshiro said about a third of the public school students — more than 60,000 — qualified for the free lunch program in the 1999-2000 school year. Another 10 percent qualified for reduced price lunches.
Kaneshiro said more than half of the students who qualify for free or reduced price meals participate in the program.
Palolo Elementary School Principal Velma Omura said more than 260 of the nearly 280 students at her school qualify for free or reduce price lunch.
If the students are not in school, Omura said she is concerned whether they are getting a good meal.
