The Hawaii Government Employees Association’s Unit 13, which represents some 8,100 professional and scientific employees, has rejected the state’s two-year contract offer. 

The union announced the results of the ratification vote Tuesday evening, saying that with 55 percent voting no the unit will proceed to binding arbitration.

“This was an important and difficult decision for the Unit 13 members, as witnessed by the very close vote. There were many factors that our members had to consider,” HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira said in a news release. “Ultimately, a greater number of voting members were dissatisfied with the employer proposal and agreed with their negotiating team that proceeding to arbitration is the path to achieving their goals for a fair contract. While our members will not be universally happy with the outcome, I certainly expect that we will all come together and move forward. We will immediately begin the process toward arbitration and will continue to work hard to secure a new contract on behalf of our members.”

Read past Civil Beat coverage of union contract issues here.

— Nathan Eagle