The University of Ha-wai'i will cut salaries for most faculty by 6.7 percent beginning Friday.

UH President M.R.C. "Marci" Greenwood said she decided to cut salaries because negotiations with the faculty union were at an impasse and time was running out to reduce the school's budget.

J.N. Musto, executive director and chief negotiator for the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly, said Greenwood's decision violates an existing agreement and the union "will take action to protect the rights of the faculty and to preserve a legitimate collective bargaining agreement in whatever court or venue is necessary."

It may ultimately be up to a judge to determine what happens.

"It may very well be that this will get resolved in the courts," Greenwood said.

Greenwood said the 6.667 percent decrease over an 18-month period is equal to a 5 percent reduction over two years that her administration proposed as a final offer on Sept. 15. She pointed out that other UH employees, including those administrative, professional and technical staff represented by the Hawaii Government Employees Association, have already agreed to a similar pay reduction.

UHPA's counteroffer call-ed for accepting the pay reductions in exchange for guaranteed pay increases in the third and fourth years of what would be a four-year contract.

'THAT MONEY IS GONE'

Greenwood said if the salary cuts are not instituted, layoffs and other actions will have to be considered to help make up for a $154 million loss in revenue, about 13.8 percent, from the state over the current fiscal year and the next.

"That money is gone, it's not being discussed, it's gone," she said at a news conference yesterday. To underscore the point of how tight the fiscal situation is, the news conference was held in the basement of the Stan Sheriff Center, one of the few places on the UH-Mänoa campus that is running air conditioning during the winter break.

The pay reductions will save the university $24 million over two years.

"We're doing everything we can to stabilize the university during this fiscal crisis," Greenwood said. "But with the start of the spring semester just a week away, we just don't have the money to continue our operations through this fiscal year and the next without a temporary pay cut with our university faculty."

Systemwide, the average salary for a UH faculty member is about $84,000. The payroll reduction affects UHPA's roughly 3,500 members, consisting of lecturers and professors. Those faculty members paid through nonappropriated funds such as extramural contracts and grants won't be affected, nor will faculty members who retire before June 30, 2010.

UNION STANDS FIRM

The current UHPA contract ran out on June 30, but Musto said UH is bound to follow it until a new contract is negotiated.

Musto said last week that his union is prepared to go to court to enforce what the union described as an "evergreen clause" in the contract, and he reiterated those comments yesterday.

UHPA is "poised to take the necessary and deliberate action needed to ensure the UH keeps its word by honoring the contract. UHPA will take action to protect the rights of the faculty and to preserve a legitimate collective bargaining agreement in whatever court or venue is necessary," Musto said.

"Never has the state repudiated a collective bargaining agreement that they signed, and attempted to nullify its provisions. In July 2009, arbitrator Mario Ramil made it clear in a final, binding decision that the current contract remains in full force and effect until a new contract is in place."

Not only was there a breach of the existing contract, but the action "shows blatant disrespect for the negotiated agreement and the faculty," Musto said. "UHPA is notifying other public-sector unions about this because it sends a chilling message to all unions that at any time the state can renege on its negotiated agreements. This mocks the collective bargaining process and puts every agreement in jeopardy."

The previous contract also barred the union from striking.

Musto did not say if his union would take any steps toward holding a strike authorization, a first step toward an actual strike.

Greenwood said UH attorneys do not believe UH is barred from implementing the pay cuts. Asked if she believed the union was still barred from striking, Greenwood said that was a question best left up to UHPA attorneys.

"Are we concerned that there might be a strike? Not at the moment," she said. "But if there is, we will have to plan for that contingency."

Even with the temporary pay cut in place, she stressed, the university wants to continue to reach a settlement.

In the long term, she said, she believes faculty salaries should be increased "so that we can remain competitive and ensure the highest quality program and the highest quality education for our community," Greenwood said.

SECOND THOUGHTS

Gary Heusel, an associate professor in the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, was one of the few faculty on the deserted Mänoa campus yesterday. Heusel said he's frustrated by the whole contract situation and that in the wake of Greenwood's announcement yesterday, he's already warned his dean that he is considering moving back to the Mainland.

Heusel, who also heads the state's 4-H program, came to the Mänoa campus a year ago after more than two decades at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Heusel said he came and accepted the same pay as he did in Lincoln, but pointed out that housing costs four to eight times more here than in his former home.

"Any pay decrease is difficult," said Heusel, whose wife also is UH faculty and a UHPA member. "I understand there are budget difficulties here also. I'm just wondering if we truly value public education either at the K-through-12 or higher-education level in this state. I think we're sending a strong message that we don't really value public education."

He added: "People are really in short-term-thinking mode because if we're not doing things in school and out of school for young people, then we're not doing things for the people who are going to be our leaders in business, in government they're going to be our neighbors for the rest of our lives."

Heusel said he's worked at universities and colleges in six states, and the University of Hawai'i is "severely underfunded" compared with the other state systems.