Rides costly for business
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
O'ahu employers are generally succeeding in getting employees to work despite an ongoing bus strike, but the effort is becoming increasingly costly, a labor economist warned yesterday.
The strike by 1,300 workers at O'ahu Transit Services has not disrupted day-to-day tourism-related operations as much as some company executives had feared, employers said.
"Frankly, I was surprised how little negative impact there has been," said Murray Towill, president of the Hawai'i Hotel Association. "Sure, it's been a challenge, but after the first couple of days, there have been been very few problems. People are incredibly adaptable."
A spot survey of hotels and other large employers this week found that most reported no major disruption to work schedules.
"So far, it hasn't caused any work problems or service problems for our guests," said Jim Austin, a spokesman for Outrigger Hotels, which has about 2,000 employees in Waikiki.
"That's not the whole story, though. You've got to ask how much it is costing them," said Lawrence Boyd, labor economist and associate specialist with the Center for Labor Education and Research at UH-West O'ahu.
Austin and other spokesmen yesterday declined to say how much alternative transportation planning, including hiring private shuttles and taking company time to organize car pools, is costing.
Earlier Outrigger had estimated that a shuttle service could cost the company $8 per rider, with $3 of that being paid by the employee.
Boyd, though, said the direct and indirect costs will grow steeper as the strike progresses.
"Basically, public transportation is a very cost-effective way to get people to work. When that system goes down, the cost falls back to business," he said.
For now, company officials say they have been pleasantly surprised how little their employee operations and their bottom lines have been disrupted by the strike.
"I haven't really heard any complaints yet," Towill said.
"Most of the solutions, like car-pooling and offering parking, are informal and nonmonetary."
"So far we've been able to accommodate all our employees," said Shelly Easton, general manager for Hilo Hattie's, which has set up car-pooling, increased parking and opened its own private tourist shuttles to employees needing a lift to work at any of its sites. "We kind of thought it might be worse."
"Generally speaking, it's been very upbeat," said B.J. Whitman, spokeswoman for Sheraton Hotels, which has adjusted work hours to allow some employees to form better car pools.
The biggest problems have come for employees who work late and can't find a safe way home.
"In some cases we've changed their hours or found them a ride," Whitman said. So far, nobody has had to spend the night in an open hotel room, she added.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
