By Frank Cho
Advertiser Staff Writer
Top international hotel union officials, concerned about local infighting and unsettled labor contracts, are recommending Hawai‘i’s biggest hotel workers’ union be placed in trusteeship until new elections can be held this year.
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| Eric Gill is likely to lose his leadership position. |
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| Tony Rutledge was narrowly defeated in the election. |
After a closed-door union hearing yesterday at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, union officials said a decision is expected as early as Monday and likely will cost local union leader Eric Gill and his 14-member executive board their jobs.
"There has been gridlock in Local 5 to the point where the union has not been able to function," said Ron Richardson, executive vice president with the international union headquarters.
John Wilhelm, general president of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union, will make the final decision on trusteeship. He is expected to receive the recommendation within 48 hours and decide next week, union officials said.
Turmoil within the Hawaii Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union Local 5 between supporters of Gill and former secretary-treasurer Tony Rutledge prompted the Washington, D.C.-based union to hold yesterday’s hearing to determine whether to intervene and take control.
Gill beat Rutledge last year in a close and bitterly fought election for the top Local 5 job. The two labor leaders have been at odds in the past, but feuding between Gill and Rutledge supporters on the Local 5 board escalated in recent months. In October, Rutledge supporters asked the international to appoint a trustee and accused Gill of breaking union bylaws.
Richardson said Sherri Chiesa, the international’s western regional director, probably will be named trustee next week.
"Sherri’s No. 1 priority will be to get the union contracts settled," Richardson said. "Then she is going to look at the finances and make a logical determination on what to do next."
Chiesa left for the Mainland soon after yesterday morning’s hearing and was not available for comment last night.
The 11,000-member Local 5 is still trying to settle contracts with some of Hawai‘i’s largest hotels, including the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Royal Hawaiian and the Kahala Mandarin Oriental, covering about 8,000 union workers.
This will be the first time the union has been put under a trustee since 1978 when Rutledge’s father, Arthur, battled with labor leader Richard Tam for control of the union.
In yesterday’s hearing, Richardson said, Gill told international union officials he would support the idea of a trustee.
Gill declined to comment about his testimony, but said after the hearing, "The one thing everyone agrees on in this situation is that it is necessary for us to pull our union together.
"I’ve given my commitment to the members that I am not walking away from this. I am going to cooperate with whoever to make sure these contracts get settled. That was always my intent," Gill said.
Gill previously had opposed the appointment of a trustee. But Richardson said yesterday that he met with key union members before the hearing to discuss their positions.
"We have had our difficulties. It has not been pleasant. But it is not my intention to create more (difficulties)," Gill said.
He originally had faced five charges by the international union. He was accused of, among other things, failing to negotiate contracts, financial malpractice and violation of union bylaws. At the hearing yesterday, the hearing officer dropped three of the charges Gill faced. The international union did not find any fault on the two remaining charges, Richardson said.
Besides Gill, Orlando Soriano, president of Local 5, and only one other person testified in the hearing that lasted less than an hour. It was scheduled to last two days. No one testifying opposed the appointment of a trustee.
"I give him (Gill) credit, he’s a good politician, but not a very good labor leader," said Rutledge, who held the post of secretary-treasurer for more than 14 years before Gill defeated him last April.
Despite the appointment of a trustee, the battle between Rutledge and Gill may not over.
Gill said he probably will run again, calling it "a duty." Rutledge also said he is thinking about running for the post again.
"I don’t know, more than likely I will probably give it another shot," Rutledge said.
If a trustee is appointed, the international union will have 18 months to hold a new election, but Richardson said elections probably will be held sooner, after contracts are settled.
"I welcome the international participation. I am as concerned about this as everyone else. What is best for the members is a united union focused on what the membership needs," Gill said.
Frank Cho can be reached by phone at 525-8088; or by e-mail, fcho@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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