Posted at 11:40 a.m., Friday, May 4, 2001

Hotels, union returning to talks under threat of strike

By Frank Cho
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hotel negotiators today called the union's demands for raises and increased benefits unfair as the two sides prepared to sit down this afternoon for what are expected to be protracted negotiations.

With a daylong work stoppage set for Monday at six major Wai kiki hotels, and the possibility of a strike, hoteliers have begun preparing contingency plans as they continue to hope a settlement can be reached.

Hawai'i's biggest hotel workers' union, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 5 AFL-CIO, said yesterday it is prepared to strike as soon as Tuesday if it cannot reach a contract agreement with hotel management by Monday.

"We don't believe what the union is asking for is fair or justified," said Richard Rand, spokes man for the Hawaii Hotel Council. Rand said the hotels have made several offers that were fair and reasonable.

The two sides are scheduled to meet today at 2 p.m. at the Hil ton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa in Waikiki in a closed-door session.

"We were a little disappointed that they (Local 5) chose to cancel the contract (extension), essentially declaring a strike for Monday morning," Rand said. "I am going to be an optimist. We hope and remain committed that we'll be able to reach some agreement, if not today, then on Saturday or Sunday."

The union, whose members have been working under a contract extension since March 2000, is asking about 5,000 members at the six hotels not to report to work Monday.

Instead, union leaders said they want the members to meet at 10 a.m. to ratify a new contract, if one is reached over the weekend, or possibly to authorize a strike.

Delegates affected

The threatened strike comes more than a week after the state's teachers and professors ended their own strikes, and coincides with the start of the Asian Development Bank conference, a major international meeting scheduled to bring thousands of executives and finance ministers from around the world.

"There will be a cutback in services to a degree," said David Uchi yama, a spokesman for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which operates four Sheraton hotels that would be affected by the work stoppage. Uchiyama said about 75 percent of the hotels' staff of more than 2,500 are Local 5 members.

Plans call for managers and other nonunion staff to do the work of union members who participate in the work stoppage, and temporarily to close a number of hotel retail outlets and restaurants.

"This is a busy time for us, so it is going to be difficult," said Scott Kawakami, a spokesman for the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, which would be affected.

Many officials with the Asian Development Bank meeting are staying at hotels that would be affected.

Zenaida McLin, convention services director for the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau, said there are no plans to move delegates to different hotels. But they might be moved, she said, if there is a strike and the delegates request it.

"It is my hope that the parties working towards a contract settlement can resolve their differences before the meeting begins on Monday," Gov. Ben Cayetano said yesterday in a statement.

Timing a coincidence

Local 5 has been negotiating a new contract for more than a year with the hotels, and union officials said the timing of the work stoppage with the start of the bank meeting is coincidental.

"Some have accused us of timing this for that," said Sherri Chiesa, the union's Western Regional director and trustee for Local 5. "But we are concerned also that our issues are going to get lost in all the coverage surrounding the meeting. We have just come to the end of our rope."

Under orders from the union's international governing body, Chiesa took control of the union Feb. 26 after months of infighting among local leadership. She has made settling the contract her priority.

Chiesa is facing her own settlement deadline as well. She was scheduled to return to the Mainland today for executive board meetings, but has postponed those plans. She also is running for the international union's post of financial secretary at its convention in July.

Chiesa has the task of holding local elections to name a financial secretary-treasurer to replace Eric Gill, ousted by the international union's president in February so Local 5 could choose a new delegation to send to the July convention.

The hotels have declined to comment on whether union members who miss work Monday will be paid, but some workers said yesterday they are tired of the lengthy contract negotiations and will strike if necessary to get a fair contract.

"None of the people would like to see this happen, but there is no job security right now. That is what all the fear is all about," said Leroy Paredes, 62, a doorman at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Paredes, who has been with the hotel for seven years, said he was a cashier until a few years ago, when he was moved to doorman.

Some, like Paredes, said they object to seeing their jobs offered to lower-paid, nonunion subcontractors. Chiesa said she estimates Hilton is using nonunion subcontractors in several hundred jobs.

That remains the biggest sticking point in negotiations, Chiesa said. "This is not a hugely complex negotiation with a ton of issues. It's about job security and wage increases."

5 percent sought

Local 5 is asking for a 5 percent increase across the board over each year of the contract. They are negotiating a three-year agreement that would be retroactive to March 2000.

For a housekeeper who earns $11.82 an hour, that would mean an increase to $13.68 by the end of the agreement, or 15.8 percent. A top-paid maintenance worker who earns $20.35 an hour would see his salary jump to $23.56 a hour.

Union officials say a record number of visitors gave hotels a profitable year in 2000. But hotel owners have said a projected slowdown in the state's economy and stagnant visitor arrivals mean they likely cannot afford to pay what the unions are demanding.

The union that represents about 11,000 hotel employees statewide already has rejected at least one contract proposed by management since discussion started last year.

Dozens of other hotel labor agreements at other properties around the state also have expired or about to, but talks mostly have been on hold. Many see the hotel master agreement as a bellwether indicating what other properties will pay their union employees.

The last time the union went on strike was in March 1990, for 22 days. Local 5 officials emphasized yesterday that the union is not going on strike Monday. The union will hold a stop-work meeting "so that our members can review and evaluate the position of the employers at that time," Chiesa said.

She said she has asked a federal mediator to assist in the negotiations.