No progress made in latest bus talks
| • | Monitors of intersections may issue tickets |
| • | Testimony favors end to bus transfers |
| • | Getting around without TheBus: Information you can use |
By Mike Leidemann and Curtis Lum
Advertiser staff writers
Talks between O'ahu Transit Services and the union representing more than 1,300 city bus employees broke off again late last night with negotiators still far from an agreement.
Advertiser library photo • Aug. 28, 2003
Both sides agreed to return to the bargaining table at 2 p.m. today in an effort to end the walkout that began Aug. 26.
"We thought that it was a budget problem. Now they're claiming that bus drivers are being overly paid," Local 996 President Mel Kahele said.
Leaders of O'ahu Transit Services and the Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 met in face-to-face bargaining sessions with a federal mediator. The two sides returned to the table yesterday with optimism after Mayor Jeremy Harris promised earlier in the day that there would be no layoffs or cuts in benefits for the term of a three-year deal.
But at 10:20 p.m., the two sides left the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, no closer to a settlement than they were more than 12 hours earlier.
OTS officials went into yesterday's talks insisting there was no money for pay increases. The union entered the talks seeking no raises in the first year, but 50 cents an hour in the second and third years of the three-year contract.
After talks broke off last night, an angry Local 996 President Mel Kahele accused the company of lying to the union and public. He said OTS has said that it had no money to pay for wage and benefit increases, but last night Kahele said OTS confirmed that money was not the issue.
"They have stated that the reason they don't want to give us increases, is they're claiming that we're adequately paid," Kahele said. "We thought that it was a budget problem. Now they're claiming that bus drivers are being overly paid."
But OTS negotiator Perry Confalone said there is no money in the budget for raises. He said OTS presented two new proposals to the union, but both were rejected.
The first called for an 18-month contract with a wage and pension freeze. It also would call for no layoffs for the life of the agreement.
The second option was a 30-month contract, with the union being able to reopen talks in the final 12 months of the agreement and negotiate wages and pension increases.
Confalone said it's obvious that the union's earlier statements that pay was not an issue were not true.
"Their theme has always been, 'No layoffs, no cutbacks, no strike.' Well, presently, there's no layoffs, there's no cutbacks, but we still have a strike," Confalone said.
City officials, who provide financing for the private OTS, have said no money is available for pay increases. Employees make $15.26 to $21.17 per hour.
Meanwhile, thousands of commuters continue to find alternative ways to get to work, but there have been increasing signs of displeasure.
"I don't think you realize how hard it's been on some people," said Hilkka Easterwood, who lives in a senior citizen high-rise in Kaka'ako.
Hundreds of people in her building have been unable to do their grocery shopping or pick up their medicine at a pharmacy, Easterwood said.
Most of the residents cannot take advantage of alternative city transportation that serves suburban and main line Honolulu routes. And because they are on fixed incomes, elderly people cannot afford to use taxicabs for their daily needs, she said.
"You don't even know who to be angry at anymore," Easterwood said.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
