Posted at 10:45 a.m., Monday, July 2, 2001

Hawaiian Waikiki Beach Hotel workers protest

Advertiser Staff

The Hawaiian Waikiki Beach Hotel became the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel yesterday as former employees staged a protest demonstration outside.

The rally was staged by Local 142 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. It represents 232 of the 274 workers terminated as New York-based Leucadia National Corp. acquired the property from Otaka Inc. in May.

Less than 10 percent of the workers were rehired through a job fair conducted by Aston management, the union said.

Kelvin Bloom, Aston's chief operating officer, said only 100 positions were available because the hotel is scaling back operations during a $30 million renovation project.

The union said it is pursuing contractual severance pay and earned vacations that Leucadia has refused to pay