(a) The legislature finds that joint decision-making is the modern way of administering government. Where public employees have been granted the right to share in the decision-making process affecting wages and working conditions, they have become more responsive and better able to exchange ideas and information on operations with their administrators. Accordingly, government is made more effective. The legislature further finds that the enactment of positive legislation establishing guidelines for public employment relations is the best way to harness and direct the energies of public employees eager to have a voice in determining their conditions of work; to provide a rational method for dealing with disputes and work stoppages; and to maintain a favorable political and social environment.
Collective bargaining: means the performance of the mutual obligations of the public employer and an exclusive representative to meet at reasonable times, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and to execute a written agreement with respect to wages, hours, amounts of contributions by the State and counties to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund, and other terms and conditions of employment, except that by any such obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 89-2
wages: includes the number of incremental and longevity steps, the number of pay ranges, and the movement between steps within the pay range and between the pay ranges on a pay schedule under a collective bargaining agreement. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 89-2
(b) The legislature declares that it is the public policy of the State to promote harmonious and cooperative relations between government and its employees and to protect the public by assuring effective and orderly operations of government. These policies are best effectuated by:
(1) Recognizing the right of public employees to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining;(2) Requiring public employers to negotiate with and enter into written agreements with exclusive representatives on matters of wages, hours, and other conditions of employment, while, at the same time, maintaining the merit principle pursuant to section 76-1; and(3) Creating a labor relations board to administer the provisions of chapters 89 and 377.
