Posted on: Saturday, August 24, 2002

Union sues to block hotel's tower project

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A union representing workers at Hawai'i hotels is asking for a court order to block the Hilton Hawaiian Village from moving forward with plans to build a 38-story tower on the site of the former Waikikian Hotel.

A lawsuit filed yesterday in Circuit Court by Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Local 5 and Eric Gill, the union's financial secretary-treasurer, claims that the City Council improperly granted several permits for the project at a meeting Aug. 7.

The lawsuit mentions a mold infestation that forced the hotel to close the 453-unit Kalia Tower and says the proposed expansion should not proceed until the mold problem is resolved.

Unionized workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the four Sheraton Waikiki hotels voted overwhelmingly Aug. 13 to authorize a strike, giving their negotiators extra leverage in contract negotiations that began in April and resumed this week.

The suit filed by attorneys Kenneth Kupchak and Gregory Kugle on behalf of Local 5 asks for a court ruling declaring the permits for the Hilton expansion project null and void.

The lawsuit claims that union members have standing to file the court action because they work at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and would be adversely affected by traffic congestion and other problems related to what Local 5 said would be an overly dense concentration of buildings if the project were to proceed.