Hotel pickets return as pre-emptive 'strike'
By Susan Hooper
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hundreds of hotel workers are set to hold another round of informational pickets in Waikiki today — a tactic that hasn't been seen in the heart of Hawai'i's tourism industry in years and one that labor analysts say signals a newly assertive union approach to contract negotiations.
The demonstration scheduled for this afternoon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village follows informational picketing earlier this month at the four Waikiki Sheraton hotels as workers with Local 5 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees have begun turning up the heat in ongoing contract talks with management.
Labor experts say the move by the local union, which in recent years negotiated as long as 14 months before ratcheting up such pressure, is designed to inform the public of labor's contract concerns, raise solidarity among union members and show the industry the union's power.
But in spite of the potential strength that public demonstrations can have, labor analysts say Local 5 faces the difficult task of applying enough pressure to influence negotiations but not so much pressure that the already shaky industry collapses on itself through mass cancelations by visitors fearful of a hotel strike.
This month's pickets come after union officials said they canceled the labor group's contract extensions covering 2,500 workers at the Sheraton hotels on June 28 and 1,500 workers at Hilton Hawaiian Village on July 3 in part so they could picket the properties, an activity prohibited under the terms of the contracts.
Union leaders also said they canceled the contract extensions because they were not satisfied with the pace of the negotiations, which began in April.
The union recently began contract talks with the Hyatt Regency Waikiki and has not yet begun negotiations with the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki and the Ala Moana Hotel. Those three hotels have about 1,500 Local 5 members.
Informational picketing not connected to a strike during contract negotiations is not unheard of in Hawai'i, but it has not been seen in Waikiki hotels in years, according to labor experts. And the union may have turned to this strategy now, analysts say, because of the unique set of circumstances labor and hotel management face in holding contract talks in the post-Sept. 11 world.
Among their other concerns, union locals around the country have complained that hotels cut so many workers after the attacks that those who remain are routinely overworked. Local 5 officials say among key issues in Hawai'i are adjusting employee workloads and limiting hotels' use of non-union employees through subcontracting. At the same time, concerns about the uncertain future of tourism have made hotel managers extraordinarily cost-conscious.
Negotiations in this climate are bound to be both difficult and protracted, analysts say.
"I understand the insecurities unions are facing," said Chuck Gee, dean emeritus of the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. "I also understand the squeezes that management is coping with to satisfy owners — in the areas of revenue management, cost controls and most of all bottom-line yield. And if it's a corporation that owns it, they're looking at the impact on their stock price."
Since tourism's mission is to show customers a good time, even the faintest whiff of controversy is likely to affect that mission. Several analysts said that, while a strike would seriously harm the state's fragile industry, short-term, periodic informational pickets in Waikiki should have little long-term impact.
But a spokesman for the Sheraton's Waikiki hotels said those properties are already getting calls from anxious customers.
"We have had groups contacting us wanting to know what the status is," said David Uchiyama, regional director of communications for Starwood Hotels & Resorts-Hawai'i, which operates the Sheraton's Waikiki hotels. "It's affected customers wanting to have their wedding receptions at the properties or business meetings. I do not know of any cancellations as of yet, but there have been a lot of calls.
"We have some local groups that are coming in later, in the next couple of months, who have expressed concerns at what the relationship is between the hotels and the unions."
Eric Gill, financial secretary-treasurer of Local 5, said the union's intention is to avoid a strike. But, he said, "being nice at the bargaining table has not produced an agreement," so the union has turned to picketing and has not ruled out activities such as work slowdowns and strikes.
"We're going to have to raise the stakes and push them a little bit," Gill said. "... Our intent is to avoid a strike. We'd always like to avoid a strike. We'd also like to avoid a lousy contract. So that's the problem."
Considering the delicate health of the state's tourism industry since Sept. 11, some analysts have suggested the union could ultimately harm its members with actions that could further slow tourism.
"I think that's a very good reason for the industry to deal honestly and settle this contract," Gill said. "That way that won't happen."
For the hotels, the increased pressure adds difficulty to what had already been a precarious situation.
"I think at this point we're hoping we can come to an agreement with them (the union)," Uchiyama said. "The pressure that's on us right now is still trying to market our destination and our product to get the business back ... That's the pressure we're feeling. And that pressure existed before all of this developed."
