Judge Grants Injunction Against State Furlough Plan

Unions Say Furloughs Must Be Negotiated HONOLULU -- Judge Karl Sakamoto on Thursday morning granted an injunction against the state's planned furloughs for state employees. Sakamoto said the three furlough days a month violated workers constitutional right to negotiate. State law requires wages to be negotiated, Sakamoto said. The furloughs violate the "duty to bargain collectively," he said. "This is not an act of war, this is not an act of a natural disaster," Sakamoto said, rejecting the state's argument that the furloughs are warranted because of a "fiscal emergency." A Circuit Court hearing on the controversial issue began at 9:36 a.m. State sheriffs limited the number of people allowed to go into the courtroom to 35 because so many turned out. The state's three largest public worker unions, the Hawaii Government... [read full story]                    

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