Posted on: Saturday, June 30, 2001

Deadline near for barge, tug contract

Advertiser Staff and News Services

The union representing Hawai'i's tugboat operators hopes to resolve a contract dispute with the state's two interisland barge operators by today's deadline to avert a strike, a union official said yesterday.

"We are in negotiations and our intent is to try and settle this contract before the termination date — Saturday midnight," said Jonathan Lono Kane, regional director of the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific.

The 59 union members who work at Hawaiian Tug & Barge and Young Brothers Ltd. authorized the strike in a vote Wednesday. A strike would start tomorrow if no agreement is reached.

"They did not offer us a proposal yesterday but we are still working on the proposal that they did give us," Kane said. "I have no further comments."

Representatives from the two companies met with union officials late yesterday afternoon to discuss questions the union had about the barge operators' latest proposal, said Bill Chung, the companies' vice president of personnel and industrial relations.

"We are continuing to meet and hope to come to a resolution before midnight tomorrow," he said.

Young Brothers, the state's leading interisland cargo service, and Hawaiian Tug & Barge said they had made a proposal Thursday afternoon to the members of the union, which represents cooks, seamen, deck hands, first and second mates, engineers, dispatchers and operators at both companies. The companies employ about 350 people.

No details have been released about possible sticking points in the new contract, or how close the sides may be to an agreement.

Meanwhile, businesses have begun considering the possibility of a strike.

Young Brothers is the only company licensed by the Public Utilities Commission to ship cargo from one island to another.

O'ahu, Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island would still be able to receive goods from the Mainland via Matson Navigation Co. containers, but Lana'i and Moloka'i do not have that service.

Young Brothers provides cargo service to all major Hawaiian islands. Hawaiian Tug & Barge, provides contract towing service, ship assists and barge charters.