The local union that represents hotel and restaurant workers yesterday rejected a final contract offer by management, citing concerns about wage proposals and job security for more than 4,000 members at five Waikiki hotels.
The Local 5 hotel and restaurant workers voted 1,435 to 330 to reject the Council of Hawai‘i Hotel’s final offer to settle the Master Hotel Agreement, said Eric Gill, the union’s chief negotiator and financial secretary-treasurer.
The agreement expired on Feb. 29, 2000, and covers about 4,600 dues-paying members at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hyatt Regency Waikiki, Sheraton-Waikiki, Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani and Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel.
Gill said negotiations will continue and added, if negotiations falter, a union strike would be at the "far end of the scale" but said pickets and rallies could be possible.
Council of Hawai‘i Hotel’s chief negotiator Robert Katz could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Gill said some members complained about low wage proposals and wanted a complete ban on the subcontracting of union jobs. The members voiced their complaints in a survey conducted during voting from Feb. 6-9, he said.
"Clearly, subcontracting is a top issue among our members," Gill said. "To settle this contract, hotel owners will have to stop this practice all together."
Gill said the union wants a 3 percent or higher annual raise while management is offering about a 1.5 percent raise. He said the average Waikiki hotel and restaurant worker earns about $14 per hour.
Preliminary negotiations call for a five-year contract with a chance to re-negotiate after three years, Gill said. Negotiations between Local 5 and the council have been in progress since March 2000.
Gill said the union will negotiate a contract amid likely intervention by the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees International Union, which is deciding whether to turn Local 5 into a trusteeship and take over operations, including contract negotiations. The trusteeship would remove the union’s top officers, including Gill.
"We welcome the (International Union’s) participation, which will ensure an end to the divisive policies that has weakened us in negotiations," Gill said. "They’re going to build on what we’ve done."
