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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Strike vote called in Waikiki hotel talks

By Susan Hooper
Advertiser Staff Writer

As negotiations with hotel management continue this week, the union representing workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the four Sheraton Waikiki hotels has scheduled a strike vote for Aug. 13.

Eric Gill, financial secretary-treasurer of Local 5 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, said the union's negotiating committee decided Monday night to hold the strike vote, and the union has begun informing its members.

The purpose of the vote is to authorize the union to go on strike "if necessary," Gill said. If the members vote in favor of a strike, "then it's up to the (negotiating) committee and the union leadership to determine whether or not a strike action is needed or if the company has made an acceptable offer," he said.

Local 5 represents about 1,500 workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and about 2,500 workers at the four Sheraton hotels in Waikiki — the Sheraton Waikiki, the Princess Ka'iulani, the Sheraton Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian.

Representatives for the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Sheraton hotels in Waikiki could not be reached for comment yesterday on the strike vote.

The union and representatives of the five Waikiki hotels have been in contract talks since April. Most recently, the union met with Sheraton representatives on Monday and with Hilton representatives yesterday. But labor representatives say they have not been satisfied with the slow pace of the negotiations, and in the past month they have turned to a variety of measures to step up pressure on the companies.

These include canceling the contract extensions covering workers at the Sheraton hotels on June 28 and workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on July 3. Canceling the contract extensions gave the union the freedom to picket the properties, an activity prohibited under the terms of the contract.

Since canceling the contract extensions, the union has held informational pickets at all four Sheraton properties. A demonstration involving about 1,000 people at the Hilton Hawaiian Village last week resulted in the arrests of 26 people for blocking the hotel entrance. Among those arrested were members of Local 5 and other Hawai'i unions, as well as members of local churches and other community representatives. No Hilton Hawaiian Village employees were arrested, union officials said.

Local 5 officials say hotels are using the drastic drop in tourism that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as an excuse to avoid rehiring laid-off workers and continuing with other cost-reduction measures that harm workers. Labor leaders say that among key issues in Hawai'i are adjusting employee workloads and limiting hotels' use of non-union employees through subcontracting.

For their part, hotel representatives have said tourism revenues are still off substantially and they must remain cost-conscious. In addition, Hawai'i hotel officials say the threat of a strike at the Waikiki hotels may further slow tourism in the state, as anxious guests cancel planned vacations.

Local 5 last came close to a strike vote against six Waikiki hotels in May 2001, but averted a possible walkout after 14 consecutive hours at the bargaining table. Workers affected were at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the four Sheraton Waikiki hotels and the Hyatt Regency Waikiki. That two-year contract agreement was retroactive to March 1, 2000.

Local 5 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 hotels collectively have about 1,500 employees in Local 5, and they are not involved in the Aug. 13 strike vote.

Reach Susan Hooper at shooper@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8064.