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August 6, 2021

Update: Vaccine Mandate for State and County Employees

HGEA strongly supports COVID-19 vaccinations for the protection of our community and to beat this pandemic. However, we do not support the way in which Governor Ige rolled out his latest emergency proclamation that mandates vaccines for public workers without bargaining the impact of this mandate.

We are receiving many calls and emails from members in response to this emergency proclamation regarding new COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements for state and county employees. Union leaders and counsel are meeting early next week to review the proclamation and discuss potential options. Hawaii’s six public-sector unions sent a letter to Gov. Ige yesterday to demand bargaining over the impact of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations and testing.

As mentioned in yesterday’s eBulletin, HGEA and other public-sector unions reached out to the governor’s office on Monday, Aug. 2 to initiate discussions about the vaccine mandate, but our request was denied. We have not received any information about the new vaccination and testing requirements from any of the jurisdictions. This is a very fluid matter and we will continue to update you on any new information we receive regarding the Governor’s vaccination and testing mandate. In the meantime, if you wish to request an exemption from the vaccine, or have questions about your jurisdiction’s vaccination and testing requirements, please contact your HR office.

We will continue to keep you updated as we get more information.

LISTEN: Randy Perreira’s Comments About Vaccine Mandate on Hawaii Public Radio

ICYMI: Video Message from Randy Perreira, Joint Union Statement and Civil Beat Story

In yesterday’s eBulletin, HGEA Executive Randy Perreira talked about Gov. Ige’s new vaccination and testing policy for public workers. HGEA encourages vaccinations in the interest of public health and safety but also recognizes the importance of bargaining the implementation of the vaccine mandate.

HGEA, HFFA, HSTA SHOPO, UHPA and UPW released a joint statement strongly encouraging vaccinations for public employees and at the same time urging the employer to openly discuss the impacts the mandate will have on employees’ working conditions.

Civil Beat covered Gov. David Ige’s new pandemic emergency proclamation that mandates public workers to be vaccinated or tested weekly.

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OAHU: 543-0000    BIG ISLAND: 935-6841    MAUI: 244-5508    KAUAI: 245-6751

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August 5, 2021

WATCH: Randy Perreira on New Vaccination and Testing Policy for State and County Employees

Governor Ige today announced an emergency proclamation regarding COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements for state and county employees.

In reaction to Gov. David Ige’s plan to impose a vaccination mandate for state and county employees, HGEA, Hawaii Fire Fighters Association (HFFA), Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA), State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO), University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA) and United Public Workers (UPW) released a joint statement strongly encouraging vaccinations for public employees and at the same time urging the employer to openly discuss the impacts the mandate will have on employees’ working conditions. The public-sector unions reached out to the governor’s office earlier this week to initiate discussions about the vaccine mandate, but our request was denied.

According to the emergency proclamation, effective August 16, 2021, all state and county employees will be asked to attest whether they are:

1. Fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (two weeks have passed since the second dose of a 2-dose series or two weeks since a single dose vaccine);

2. Partially vaccinated (received one of a two-dose course of vaccination); or

3. Not vaccinated for COVID-19.

Permanent and temporary employees who are not in category 1 above may be subject to regular COVID-19 testing at the discretion of the director and may be subject to restrictions on official travel.

We want you to know that HGEA strongly encourages COVID-19 vaccinations as our most powerful weapon in our united effort to beat the pandemic and protect our community’s health. However, we will fight to protect our members against any and all attempts to use public health measures as a cover for undermining workers’ rights and protections.

We have demanded bargaining over the impact of these COVID-19 vaccination requirements and will continue to fight for these open discussions to come up with solutions that work for all impacted workers. We will be sure to keep you updated and welcome your thoughts.

(HGEA member login required to watch video. Closed captioning will be available 1-2 hours after this eBulletin is sent.)

Phone: (808) 543-0000 | Web: www.hgea.org

Send us an Email

OAHU: service@hgea.org

HAWAII: hawaiidiv@hgea.org

MAUI: mauidiv@hgea.org

KAUAI: kauaidiv@hgea.org

NOTICE: If you have subscribed to eBulletin with your work email address, we recommend that you use a personal or home email address instead, so that we can continue to provide you with all the latest union and benefits news. You can update your email address with two simple steps:

Go to your member dashboard at www.hgea.org/account/member-login and log in to update your information.Open any eBulletin email from the account that you do not want to use and scroll to the bottom. Click on “remove” and it will unsubscribe that email account from eBulletin. [Note: If your department does not allow you to access the “remove” link, please email helpdesk@hgea.org or communications@hgea.org.]

Please do not reply to this email as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address. For a complete list of member discounts or for more HGEA news, please visit www.hgea.org. If you have specific inquiries, please contact your local HGEA office.

OAHU: 543-0000    BIG ISLAND: 935-6841    MAUI: 244-5508    KAUAI: 245-6751

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July 22, 2021

UH Consultation Regarding COVID-19 Interim Guidelines

Dear University of Hawaii Employees:

On June 18, 2021, the HGEA received a draft Interim COVID-19 Guidelines that was still under review by the Department of Health. The University sent an updated COVID-19 Guidelines for the University of Hawaii System, which the Department of Health has offered its concurrence with the guidelines dated July 15, 2021.

Please click on the links below to see the June 18 Interim Guidelines and the July 15 revised COVID-19 Guidelines, and submit any comments and questions for the July 15 version to HGEA by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at UHCovid-19Guidelines@hgea.org.

Phone: (808) 543-0000 | Web: www.hgea.org

Send us an Email

OAHU: service@hgea.org

HAWAII: hawaiidiv@hgea.org

MAUI: mauidiv@hgea.org

KAUAI: kauaidiv@hgea.org

NOTICE: If you have subscribed to eBulletin with your work email address, we recommend that you use a personal or home email address instead, so that we can continue to provide you with all the latest union and benefits news. You can update your email address with two simple steps:

Go to your member dashboard at www.hgea.org/account/member-login and log in to update your information.Open any eBulletin email from the account that you do not want to use and scroll to the bottom. Click on “remove” and it will unsubscribe that email account from eBulletin. [Note: If your department does not allow you to access the “remove” link, please email helpdesk@hgea.org or communications@hgea.org.]

Please do not reply to this email as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address. For a complete list of member discounts or for more HGEA news, please visit www.hgea.org. If you have specific inquiries, please contact your local HGEA office.

OAHU: 543-0000 BIG ISLAND: 935-6841 MAUI: 244-5508 KAUAI: 245-6751

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