KEALAKEHE, Hawaii – A 16% percent pay raise for Hawaii County lifeguards was discussed at the Hawaii County Council Finance Committee meeting in Kona on Wednesday.

County Human Resources Director Sharon Toriano and Fire Battalion Chief Gerald Kosaki explained how the pay increases were the result of arbitration entered into with a newly formed Collective Bargaining Unit 14 representing State and County Ocean Safety and Water Safety Officers.

RESOLUTION 440-16

A RESOLUTION COMMITTING TO FUNDING THE COST ITEMS AWARDED BY ARBITRATION TO HAWAII GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION (HGEA) UNIT 14 FOR THE CONTRACT PERIOD JULY 1, 2015 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2017.

WHEREAS, Act 137, 2013 Session Laws of Hawaii ( SLH), established a new collective bargaining unit to represent State and County Ocean Safety and Water Safety Officers; and

WHEREAS, Act 137 further provided that the rights, benefits, and privileges currently enjoyed by State and County Ocean Safety and Water Safety Officers shall be maintained under their existing collective bargaining agreements until a collective bargaining agreement is negotiated for the new bargaining unit, BU 14; and

WHEREAS, on February 2, 2015, pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 89- 11, HGEA and public employer representatives agreed to utilize an arbitration panel to resolve several issues with respect to a new BU 14 collective bargaining agreement covering the period from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017; and

WHEREAS, the arbitration panel heard arguments and testimony from the parties and concluded its hearings on November 20, 2015; and

WHEREAS, the arbitration panel issued its decision and award on February 22, 2016; and

WHEREAS, the estimated cost to the County of Hawaii over the next year of the new contract fiscal year 2017) as shown in the exhibits attached to this resolution, will be $ 548, 158. 00; and

WHEREAS, the estimated cost for fiscal year 2016 was previously submitted to this Council as part of the HGEA Unit 3 and 4, which the Ocean Safety and Water Safety Officers were previously members of; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 89- 11 ( g) relating to collective bargaining requires that in the case of a ” final and binding” decision by an arbitration panel, “[a] II items requiring any moneys for implementation shall be subject to appropriations by the appropriate legislative bodies and the employer shall submit all such items within ten days after the date on which the agreement is entered into as provided herein, to the appropriate legislative bodies”; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the cost items included in the conclusions of the arbitration panel for HGEA negotiations, as shown on the attached exhibits, are hereby approved.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the funds necessary to pay the obligations under this agreement will be included in the operating budget in FY2017.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be forwarded to the Departments of Human Resources and Finance.