UPW MEMBERS RATIFY TW0-YEAR CONTRACTS WITH STATE AND COUNTIES

April 28 - Governor Lingle, Dayton Nakanelua, state director for the United Public Workers (UPW) and Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resources Development, announced that employees in Bargaining Unit 01 Blue Collar Non-Supervisory Employees, and Bargaining Unit 10 Institutional, Health and Correctional Workers, have overwhelmingly ratified their contracts.  The contracts will cover close to 12,000 custodians, sanitation workers, prison guards, public hospital workers, food service employees and other workers for the State and counties, Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation, Department of Education, University of Hawai‘i and the Judiciary and will take effect on July 1, 2007.  In addition, the new two-year contracts will include a random drug and alcohol testing program for all employees in the bargaining unit to promote safety in the workplace.

• Read the news release.