Bus union to continue TV, radio ads attacking Harris
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
With negotiations to end O'ahu's bus strike gridlocked, the bus workers' union will continue this weekend with advertisements meant to turn up the heat on the bus company and Mayor Jeremy Harris.
But it remains to be seen whether the television and radio ads that the Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 began running during the week will strengthen their efforts to win wage and pension increases. Today marks the strike's 19th day.
The ads do not directly address how the strike could be ended, but attack Mayor Jeremy Harris by suggesting he squandered money on unneeded projects and programs to further his political ambitions.
"I think the basic message of the ad is a responsible city government plans ahead and budgets ahead for covering their core services, such as public transportation, adequate police salaries, firefighter salaries etcetera," said Teamsters public relations consultant Lynne Waters.
The Teamsters have sought a three-year contract with increases of 50 cents per hour in both pay and pensions during the second and third years.
Harris and O'ahu Transit Services, the private firm that runs the bus for the city, insist there is no additional money for the bus workers. OTS has offered a three-year contract that allows the union to seek salary and pension increases in the third year.
The Teamsters ad running through the weekend doesn't specify where money for raises should come from, but Waters said the message is partly subliminal.
"The Teamsters feel the mayor is perfectly capable of finding the money, just as he has when some of these pet projects have been launched," she said.
Waters would not say how much the union spent on its advertising campaign. She said that could disclose elements of its strategy.
Harris said the ads are misguided and won't convince him to seek additional money for the more than 1,300 bus workers on strike.
"I think it's sad that the Teamsters have gotten down to name-calling and mud-slinging instead of resolving the issues before us and getting the drivers back on the job, of getting the buses rolling," he said.
The mayor said he would not support increases to bus fares, taxes or cuts to other city services to finance pay raises.
OTS marketing director Marilyn Dicus said the bus company spent $46,500 on radio and TV ads that ran during the week.
While Waters said the Teamsters' ads mainly target the general public, the OTS messages were aimed at the union itself.
"We were trying to communicate with the members to say, 'Accept the offer; the raises will come when the economy gets better,' " Dicus said.
The ads, which featured kindly women identified as a retired schoolteacher and a mother, urged the strikers to return to work and be patient for future raises. They ran for five days ending Wednesday, and Dicus said there were no immediate plans for more ads.
Helen Varner, dean of the College of Communication at Hawai'i Pacific University, said the OTS ads appeared very effective because they included figures most residents can identify with and spoke directly to the target audience.
"The people who are the important people are the ones that OTS targeted — the members of the union," Varner said. "They're the ones who vote to ratify a contract."
The effectiveness of the Teamsters ads is harder to gauge because they don't call for a clear course of action, she said.
The ads may push Harris into being less visible regarding the strike, but whether that has any effect on resolving the dispute is another matter, Varner said.
The mayor has been clear and consistent in saying there is no more money available for the bus workers — something easy for people to understand, whether it's true or not, Varner said.
"In good public relations, perception is reality," she said. "It doesn't matter what the facts are. What matters is what people believe them to be."
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
