Council staff pay proposal sparks sharp pushback from unions and county employees

The Budget, Finance & Economic Development Committee on April 16 heard extended public testimony and internal discussion after Office of Council Services leaders proposed raising the pay scale for positions in OCS, a measure later filed as Bill 49.

OCS Director David Rotz said the proposal grew out of efforts to keep OCS salaries aligned with recent salary commission adjustments and with comparable legal offices. “We saw a widening disparity in pay across the organization,” Rotz told the committee, and proposed a pay-scale adjustment so legislative attorneys, analysts and other OCS staff would remain relatively competitive with comparable county positions.

The proposal drew immediate and sometimes emotional testimony. Gail Fujiwara, a 31-year county finance employee, told the committee the measure would be “a slap in the face to specialized employees in critical roles,” arguing it would undercut technical positions such as accountants and systems administrators. Tony Rust, chief of the Maui division of the Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA), testified the union does not oppose compensation increases but strongly opposes “unprecedented raises for a select few” that ignore parity, transparency and fairness across bargaining units.

Several county employees who testified said pay disparities and vacancy problems are widespread across the county and urged any adjustments be balanced and coordinated with collective bargaining. Stacy Veneray, a Department of Finance dispatcher, urged the council to compare OCS proposals with raises available to civil-service and unionized employees and to avoid preempting collective bargaining negotiations.

OCS leaders told the committee the proposal was a policy choice, not a unilateral pay decision by staff. David Rotz said OCS had modeled its draft on recent attorney pay actions and put forward the bill so the council could consider whether to extend similar changes across the legislative office. He also said the OCS request included non-salary program proposals — such as tuition assistance and expanded scanning/archiving — that are separate from the pay-scale change.

Members of the committee and public commenters pressed for broader solutions. HGEA warned that selective raises risk worsening morale and accelerating departures among civil-service employees, who already face elevated vacancy rates. HGEA urged deferring any action until after the county’s collective bargaining negotiations conclude; OCS and administration representatives said they would meet with unions and staff and answer further questions in writing.

No formal vote on Bill 49 was recorded at the April 16 meeting. Committee members asked staff to provide cost estimates and to return with more detailed comparisons and options in advance of further deliberations.

Ending: Committee members and administration officials asked for additional written information, cost estimates and legal context. Several members urged the administration and unions to continue negotiating supplemental approaches that could raise pay for more county workers without producing the perceived inequities that several testifiers described.