Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

Kaiser nurses authorize strike

As negotiations with their employer continue, nurses at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii voted to authorize a strike, the Hawai'i Nurses Association said yesterday.

The vote authorizes the leadership of the association to issue a 10-day strike notice to Kaiser Permanente. The union's contract expires on Nov. 30.

Kaiser Permanente management, which has asked for a federal mediator to help with the talks, called the union's plans to issue a strike notice "extremely premature."

Tax aid priority, survey finds

The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii said it surveyed 1,100 Hawai'i businesses who said their top business priorities are tax relief with the corresponding reduction in the cost of government and the twin insurance burdens of workers' comp and healthcare.

Those topics will be the focus of at the chamber's annual meeting tomorrow at the Hale Koa Hotel. Robin Campaniano, president and CEO of AIG Insurance, and Gregg Yamanaka, a partner at TeraBiz, are two of several scheduled speakers.

Loan request canceled

The owner of Aloha Tower Marketplace has withdrawn a request to borrow $700,000 from a new lender to cover projected operating losses over the next six months. The decision comes after a partner in the Honolulu Harbor retail center agreed to make up the shortfalls.

Apollo Real Estate Fund II, which owns 80 percent of the marketplace mortgage, earlier had refused to continue covering losses, which have totaled $1.6 million this year through September.

But the fund last week decided to resume shortfall advances, according to a bankruptcy attorney representing marketplace owner Aloha Tower LP, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January because of a ground rent dispute with the state.