Workers walk out on Maui resort

ILWU representative Gordon Lafer said the two-day walkout by the resort’s 300 union members was prompted when the hotel unilaterally instituted an 8 percent pay increase effective last Friday that management had proposed during contract talks.

Lafer said that forcing contract terms on employees while negotiations are under way violates the National Labor Relations Act. The union cited other alleged violations, including increases in workload without negotiation, threats to evict an employee from company housing for strike participation, and refusing to negotiate in good faith.

While contract talks resumed yesterday, hotel workers and supporters picketed the entrance to the Royal Lahaina Resort. Hotel General Manager John Brunold said management is taking steps to ensure that guest services are not disrupted by the walkout.

Negotiations are to continue today, Lafer said.

According to numbers provided by the hotel, the 8 percent raise would bring the average pay rate to $14.97 an hour for bellman, housekeepers, and front desk and food and beverage workers. Annual 4 percent wage increases would follow.

The ILWU wants $15.33 an hour, matching the average wage at the Hyatt Regency Maui in Ka‘anapali.

Union leaders say the Royal Lahaina, owned by Pleasant Travel Service, has been stingy in restoring concessions that employees agreed to during the tourism slump of the mid-1990s.

Royal Lahaina officials said the comparison with the Hyatt is unfair, because that hotel has 223 more rooms than the Royal Lahaina and room rates there are 75 percent higher. A more fair comparison, the officials said, would be the 430-room Ka‘anapali Beach Hotel, where room rates are similar to those at the Royal Lahaina and the average wage for most positions is $14.69 an hour.

Negotiations between the ILWU and the Royal Lahaina have been ongoing since the contract expired May 31. Union members voted Feb. 2 to suspend the contract.

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