Tag: layoffs

August 20, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

CTAHR dean details impacts of ag. inspectors layoffs | Hawaii247.org

CTAHR dean details impacts of ag. inspectors layoffs

Updated at 3:27 am, Thursday, August 20, 2009.

Andrew Hashimoto, dean and director of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, gave the following testimony to the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee about the potential impacts of laying off  Department of Agriculture staff.

I am pleased to provide personal testimony relating to the potential impacts on the community and agricultural industry on the Big Island, arising from the anticipated reduction and possible elimination of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch. This testimony does not represent the position of the University of Hawaii or CTAHR.  

Background 

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) has 329 “permanent” employees, of which 118 (approximately 36 percent) have received notices for layoff. 

The Plant Quarantine (PQ) Branch will be especially hard hit. It has a total of 78 inspectors and 16 technicians (aides).

Of that, 50 inspectors and two technicians (all general funded) have been given notices. The remainder (11 inspectors and 14 technicians) are paid from special funds.

Most of the inspectors to be laid off will be from the neighbor islands. Information on the number of layoffs for each of the other HDOA branches is not known. The impact of the layoff in the PQ branch is discussed. 

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August 17, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Animal Quarantine Information – Hawaii Department of Agriculture

ADVISORY (August 17, 2009) –

The State of Hawai’i is currently faced with a significant budgetary shortfall. While it is still uncertain how budget cuts may affectservices by the Hawai’i Department of Agriculture, you should be aware that if you are qualifying your pet for direct release at Honolulu International Airport and are currently making travel arrangements, it may be prudent to arrange to arrive in Honolulu during between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. This is especially important if you are planning to take a connecting flight to another island with your pet the same day.

Currently, some employees have received layoff notices. In addition, the possibility of furloughs exists. In the event layoffs or furloughs or both are implemented, it can result in a reduction of the current hours of inspection for airport release. Animals that arrive at the Airport Animal Quarantine Holding Facility after hours of inspection will be held overnight and processed the following morning.

We are providing this advisory as a precaution, because we realize that flight arrangements are usually made far in advance of travel.  If the situation changes, we will update this webpage accordingly.

The airport office will continue to accept pets arriving from the airlines at Honolulu International Airport; however, we anticipate that inspection hours may be affected, which will result in delays in processing the inspection and release of pets at the airport.

Animal Quarantine Information — Hawaii Department of Agriculture

August 16, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

KauaiEclectic: Musings: Planning Overhaul

 

And so, it seems, is the reality of the state’s budget crisis, with The Advertiser reporting today that proposed layoffs in the Department of Agriculture could imperil food imports and exports.

On the import side, [Big Island Rep. Clifton] Tsuji said, he’s already heard from a major produce importer who warned that a dramatic slowdown in the time it takes to have items inspected could spell the end of the import of certain types of lettuce or other food products that perish easily. "If they don’t have the inspectors, they might have to cease importing these items," Tsuji said.

It’s a double-edged sword. If some stuff’s not coming in, it could increase demand for locally-grown veggies and so spur production. But if we don’t have enough inspectors, it harms exporters, who are a major force in Hawaii’s diversified ag sector. It also increases the risk of more pest species being introduced, which is a major concern for the native environment, farmers and our overall quality of life.

It raises, once again, the question of whether Hawaii is serious about ensuring that agriculture is part of its future.

That question will be front and center as Kauai goes through the process of identifying its Important Ag Lands. We’re the first county to do such a study, which is mandated by Act 233. Dr. Karl Kim of UH has been awarded the county contract, and he’ll be talking about the process at a meeting set for 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24 at the Kapaa Library.

I was talking to Farmer Jerry the other day, and he said the most important message that needs to be conveyed about the IAL process is “it’s not gonna be the third Mahele for the developers.”

KauaiEclectic: Musings: Planning Overhaul

August 15, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Layoff notices a wake up call to lawmakers | Howzit Howard

 

Did you think the governor issued layoff notices to impel the unions to more readily agree to the more sensible alternative of furloughs? Because if the layoff notices are lighting a fire under anybody, it seems to be state legislators.

The unions are still moving with deliberation, possibly hoping that the economy will stop getting worse, tax revenue will increase, and a smaller concessionary delta will be the focus of negotiations after that.

Lawmakers, on the other hand, now that can see what specific jobs are for the chop, are concerned about the state services set to be screwed up as an inevitable consequence of having no more dough to fund them.

The selection of jobs to reduce does not show any obvious sign that anyone deliberately sought to create as much pain as possible, to hold their breath until you turn blue. To the contrary, they’re spread out among many departments, and the other departments that seem mostly spared are those with a lot of non-union employees who are being put on the furlough program instead, the judge’s order not having impeded that with workers who aren’t subject to collective bargaining.

But the layoffs still include agriculture inspectors, nurses and other people who come nowhere close to the slow-moving, never-heard-of-customer-service, surly bureaucrats that many people fantasized would be sent backing in a round of layoffs. Heavens! Agriculture inspectors and nurses! They do actual work!

Within hours of issuance of the list detailing the positions being cut, several lawmakers had gone on record saying this won’t do. Some who wield budget power even claimed the jobs could not be eliminated without their say-so, while the agriculture cuts produced an immediate constituency for taking action among lawmakers from neighbor islands, especially the Big Island.

As I reported a couple of weeks ago, the state ag department stands to lose inspectors who are a necessary part of the process of exporting Hawaii farm goods to other countries. The fear is that perishable goods will, uh, perish, before they can reach their markets.

Layoff notices a wake up call to lawmakers | Howzit Howard

August 5, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Howzit Howard

 

November 13th… birthday of Robert Louis Stevenson… anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam War Memorial… and the day 1,100 Hawaii state employees are set to lose their jobs. But despite a specific date, this situation is still fluid.

…

If there is any kind of cutback at all, whether outright layoffs or just furloughs, I predict you will see noticeable disruption of state services even if all affected state workers suck it up and try to provide as much service as before.

For example, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture has more than 120 people slated for layoff including about 70 from the plant industry division, I am told, which will disrupt plant inspections and either disrupt imports or allow imports without inspections.

Howzit Howard