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HB931
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
931
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to private sector collective bargaining rights
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION
1.
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The legislature finds that private
sector workers are at risk to lose their collective bargaining rights on the federal
level due to a document called "Project 2025".
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Although federal law regarding private sector
collective bargaining rights generally preempts state law, state law can supersede
federal law in certain situations if it provides higher or better protection.
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The
legislature further finds that the State directly benefits from
unionization.
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In 2023, the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 24.1 per cent of Hawaii's wage and
salary workers were represented by a union, the highest union density per capita
in the United States.
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Unionization
directly contributes to the State's gross domestic product by creating higher
wages and increased consumer spending.
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In addition to economic benefits for the State, unionization makes work
environments safer, improves health and retirement benefits, and reduces income
inequality.
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The
purpose of this Act is to protect the rights of private sector workers in the
State by expanding the types of employees protected by the Hawaii Employment
Relations Act to include independent contractors and all individuals subject to
the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act, not just those over whom
the National Labor Relations Board has declined to exercise jurisdiction.
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SECTION 2.
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Section 377-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending the definition of "employee" to read as follows:
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""Employee"
includes any person[
, other than an independent contractor,
] working for
another for hire in the State, and shall not be limited to the employees of a
particular employer unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
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"Employee" includes any individual
whose work has ceased solely as a consequence of or in connection with any
current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice on the part of an
employer and who has not:
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(1)
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Refused or failed to return to work upon the
final disposition of a labor dispute or a charge of an unfair labor practice by
a tribunal having competent jurisdiction of the same or whose jurisdiction was
accepted by the employee or the employee's representative;
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(2)
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Been found to be committing or a party to any
unfair labor practice hereunder;
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(3)
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Obtained regular and substantially equivalent
employment elsewhere; or
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(4)
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Been absent from the individual's employment
for a substantial period of time during which reasonable expectancy of
settlement has ceased (except by an employer's unlawful refusal to bargain) and
whose place has been filled by another engaged in the regular manner for an
indefinite or protracted period and not merely for the duration of a strike or
lockout.
"Employee" does not include any individual
employed in the domestic service of a family or person at the family's or
person's home or any individual employed by the individual's parent or spouse,
or any person employed in an executive or supervisory capacity, or any
individual employed by any employer employing less than two individuals, or any
individual subject to the jurisdiction of the federal Railway Labor Act [
or
the National Labor Relations Act
], as amended from time to time.
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"Employee" includes any individual
subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended
from time to time[
, but over whom the National Labor Relations Board has
declined to exercise jurisdiction or has indicated by its decisions and
policies that it will not assume jurisdiction
]."
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SECTION 3.
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Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
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SECTION 4.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Collective
Bargaining; Private Sector Workers' Rights; Labor; Unionization; Protections
Description:
Expands
the types of employees protected by the Hawaii Employment Relations Act to
include
independent contractors and all individuals subject to the
jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act
.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.