Advertiser Staff
KA‘ANAPALI, Maui — ILWU Local 142 members plan to picket the Royal Lahaina Resort today after hotel workers voted earlier to suspend their contract.
Negotiations between the union, which represents 300 Royal Lahaina employees, and the resort owner have been ongoing since the contract expired May 31. The picketing comes after a two-day mediation session last week with Mayor James "Kimo" Apana failed to resolve a dispute over wages and other contract issues.
The workers are on strike. A separate union vote would be needed before that could take place.
The Royal Lahaina Resort is owned by Ed Hogan, founder and chairman of Pleasant Travel Service. Hogan also runs wholesale tour companies, including Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays. Company officials were not available for comment yesterday.
Union representative Gordon Lafer said hotel workers who depend on tips for a large portion of their pay have been getting shortchanged for years. He said contract terms concerning tips have been frozen for years, and in most cases, the union simply is asking management to restore concessions made to help the hotel during tough times in the mid-1990s.
Lafer said the next bargaining session is Monday.
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