September 2020 (Archives)

In Memoriam: UHPA’s First Executive Director Jerome “Jerry” Comcowich

UHPA joins others in mourning the loss of Jerome “Jerry” Comcowich, a retired UH faculty member who was UHPA’s first executive director. Jerry became a founding member of UHPA in 1973 and served the union for decades as a board member and as delegate to National Education Association meetings. Jerry was walking in a bike lane near his Enchanted Lake residence on the morning of September 3, when a driver of a pick-up truck struck him and two other parked vehicles. He [...]

2020-09-29T09:40:20-10:00September 29, 2020|BOD, Commentary, Frontpage, Newsletter, UHPA Organizational|

Deferring Payroll Tax Obligation

On August 8, 2020, President Trump directed the Secretary of the Treasury to defer the withholding and payment of the employee portion of social security taxes from September 1 to December 31, 2020. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirmed on September 3, 2020 the tax deferral is optional and employers are not required to participate. The directive does not eliminate the tax liability for employees. The IRS advised on August 28 that employers that choose to participate should withhold the deferred taxes [...]

2020-09-24T21:29:09-10:00September 24, 2020|Financial, Frontpage, Newsletter, UH Administration|

Governor Ige warns of potential furloughs and pay cuts

Any salary reductions require bargaining Yesterday afternoon, Governor David Ige met with the leaders of Hawaii’s six public worker unions, including the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly. Because of the pandemic, Governor Ige said the state expects to be billions of dollars in deficit and that additional steps will be necessary to balance the budget. We want to be absolutely clear and transparent. Governor Ige has not put forward any formal proposal to UHPA nor any of the other unions to initiate [...]

2020-09-22T14:01:52-10:00September 22, 2020|Contract negotiations, Financial, Frontpage, UH Funding|

Political Action Fund Objection

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA) has an active Political Endorsement Committee that has participated in state & federal elections through political endorsements, contributions to candidates and independent expenditures on behalf of our endorsed candidates. The UHPA Board of Directors has taken action to allocate from the dues of all UHPA Active members an amount of $5.00 a month to be placed in a Political Action Fund. The Fund will be subject to the accounting requirements and used for purposes consistent [...]

2020-09-28T10:28:51-10:00September 10, 2020|Frontpage, Newsletter, Political, UHPA Organizational|

Are you being counted in the 2020 Census?

It's critical that we are all counted in the 2020 Census and right now it's not looking very good for Hawaii - please see Congressman Ed Case's letter received by UHPA below.  He has an important message and we’re encouraging all UHPA members to take the right action to make sure your household is counted in the 2020 Census.  Hawaii's fair representation is depending on you! I am reaching out to you, as a leader of Hawaii's labor community, to ask for [...]

2020-09-02T11:35:01-10:00September 2, 2020|Commentary, Frontpage, Newsletter, Opinion, Political|
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