Posted at 12:12 a.m., Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Strike stops buses
Advertiser Staff
Shortly after midnight, more than 1,300 O'ahu bus workers went on strike."We're on strike," said Mel Kahele, president of the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers 996, the union representing bus workers.
Kahele apologized to the public for the inconvenience.
An eleventh-hour bargaining session was continuing into the night after negotiators returned to the bargaining table yesterday just hours before a 12:01 deadline for O'ahu bus workers to go on strike.
Going into talks, the head of the union representing bus workers said a 9-0 vote by members of the City Council in favor of bus fare increases was good news, but that proposed cuts in benefits would have to be taken off the table to avert a strike.
Kahele called the council vote "one positive movement in the right direction." But he added, "We actually don’t believe we’re going to be able to settle unless the company moves off its (proposal for) 38 takebacks" regarding vacation, medical insurance, pensions and work hours.
Representatives of O'ahu Transit Services and the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers 996 met at the Blaisdell Center meeting rooms to resume contract talks at 2:30 p.m.
