Both the Teamsters and the O'ahu Transit Services team looked more weary than optimistic as they headed for the mediator’s office in the Federal Building in Kaka'ako.

"We walk in with our minds open," said Don Owens, a Washington-based spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who arrived in Honolulu yesterday.

Owens would not discuss details of the proposal before members had heard it.

"We realize this is a hard time for the city and we don’t want to prolong this, but in the end, we want a fair contract," Owens said. "We’re not asking for much, just 50 cents."

It was the first meeting between OTS, operators of TheBus, and the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 since Sept. 10.

More than 1,300 Teamsters went on strike Aug. 26 to retain benefits and seek higher wages and pension contributions.

The union yesterday asked for the talks to resume this morning.

"Well, the union has said it wants to talk and we want to talk," OTS chief negotiator Perry Confalone said as he arrived. "Perhaps there will be some significant progress."

Confalone was not expecting a union offer and said the company did not have one, either.

OTS President Jim Cowen was also at the talks.

"Right now, I’m here to listen to what the union has to say," Cowen said, as he entered negotiations.

Owens told reporters outside the federal building that he had come to Honolulu to "make sure we have a coordinated message."

Owens said he would now be the voice of Hawai'i Teamsters during the strike.

Local Teamsters President Mel Kahele, who has publicly explained the union’s position for months, today said unfair media coverage fueled the decision to change.

"It seems like the local media was not in favor of the union’s position," Kahele said today. "That’s one of the primary reasons."

Yesterday’s decision to return to to the bargaining table came on a day that began with Teamsters International official Jim Santangelo and Kahele on the Perry & Price talk show on KSSK defending their position and engaging in verbal battles with critics of the union leadership.

That led to Mayor Jeremy Harris holding his own press conference challenging the union leaders to take the company’s latest offer to the membership for a vote.

Mike Chambrella, a Teamsters attorney, yesterday said the return to talks was partly influenced by the arrival Tuesday of California-based Santangelo, a top official in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

"We’re hoping that makes a difference to the company," Chambrella said.

Since arriving, Santangelo has pledged the parent union’s full support to the local, including the possibility of raising the amount of strike benefits that striking members could receive.

In his press conference, Harris said there have been a growing number of phone calls and letters to the editor from people claiming to be bus employees that urge the union to accept the company’s latest offer.

That three-year offer retains all current benefits for employees, but provides no pay or pension increases except for a reopening of negotiations that could lead to pay or pension increases in the third year. The union position accepts no pay or pension increases the first year, but wants 50-cent-an-hour increases in the second and third years in both wages and pension benefits, contingent upon City Council approval of money to pay for the increases.

Harris said he has no doubt that union members would vote to accept OTS’ proposal.

"It’s clear to me that most of the bus drivers want to get back to work," Harris said. "Most of the bus drivers are happy with that excellent contract that they have and they are happy with the fact that they can achieve a guarantee that they’re not going to be laid off and they’re not going to lose their benefits. They want to get back to work."

But both Santangelo and Chambrella said outside of an agreement to the union’s demands, the leadership will not send an OTS proposal to members for a vote unless it is declared a "last, best and final offer" by the company. "Under normal circumstances, we take the last, best and final offer to the membership," Chambrella said.

Said Confalone: "We haven’t decided to take that route as of yet, but if it helps to expedite a resolution, we may take that route."

The two sides and federal mediator Carol Catanzariti may be hoping that a change of venue will help bring a settlement. Since the strike began, negotiations have been held at the Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall where activity could be easily monitored by reporters. The federal building is secured and media have had only limited access during previous union negotiations.

Salt Lake resident Barbara Koizumi, a daily bus rider, said she’s hopeful the two sides can come to an agreement soon. "But I don’t know if anything’s going to happen, really," Koizumi said. "It seems like they’re just going back and forth."

She said she suspects many bus drivers are at the point where they are ready to go back to work and she hopes those voices are being heard. "Has the union been asking them how they feel?" she asked.

Another bus rider said he has stopped caring about when the strike is resolved. While Makiki resident Charles Carole said he likely will go back to riding TheBus when service resumes, he has managed without it by riding the city’s makeshift van service and simply walking more.

"I think the bus drivers can take a hike," he said. "Let them walk more."