Updated at 3:58 a.m.
OTS, bus drivers reach tentative deal
By Gordon Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Striking bus workers and employer O'ahu Transit Services reached a tentative contract agreement early this morning, meaning the four-week island transit strike could be over soon.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Bus service could resume Monday and perhaps as soon as Sunday, OTS vice president Roger Morton said, pending ratification of the deal by union members. Bus workers will meet Saturday to take a ratification vote to decide whether to accept or reject the new contract. Union leaders said they will recommend that its members accept it.
Perry Confalone, left, chief negotiator for O'ahu Transit Services, and OTS vice president Roger Morton announce the resolution of bus contract talks .
The strike by the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996, which represents more than 1,300 bus workers, began Aug. 26. TheBus system normally provides about 240,000 rides daily.
The tentative agreement on a five-year contract was announced at 2:07 a.m. The union negotiators decided to take the company's latest offer to its membership for a vote, Teamsters president Mel Kahele said. No details of the deal were announced.
The ratification vote will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the union hall on Hart Street in Kalihi. An informational meeting at 9 a.m. will precede the vote.
The Teamsters had been seeking a five-year contract that would include an increase in pension benefits in the first, second, fourth and fifth years, and pay increases of more than 1.25 percent in the fourth and fifth years.
Entering negotiations yesterday, the union had accepted a wage-and-benefit freeze in the first year of the contract, while O‘ahu Transit Services had agreed to wage increases in the fourth and fifth years.
OTS negotiators declined to offer details.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
If the settlement is ratified, TheBus mechanics said last night that it would take at least two more days to get the idled vehicles up and running.
Jim Santangelo, left, vice president of the Teamsters parent organization, and Hawai'i Teamsters President Mel Kahele talk with reporters.
There was a flurry of activity throughout the evening as both sides swapped various proposals under the guidance of federal mediator Carol Catanzariti.
Late in the afternoon, Catanzariti had OTS negotiator Perry Confalone, Kahele and their respective attorneys sequestered in a separate room for a sidebar discussion.
Jim Santangelo, vice president for the parent International Brotherhood of Teamsters, warned of a long night.
"I think you should all get your sleeping bags, because it’s going to go a bit," Santangelo said. Because "all we care about is getting the people back and everybody be happy."
Bus workers make between $15.26 and $21.17 an hour. TheBus provides about 240,000 rides on a normal operating day.
The strike forced thousands of residents to come up with commuting alternatives and prompted the city administration to patch together a limited transportation network of minivans, school buses and volunteers. More cars on major highways meant the rush hours were more congested and lasted longer, but motorists also noted that traffic on many streets flowed more smoothly, surmising that there were no buses to create a start-and-stop rhythm.
The strike and demands by the bus workers' union for no layoffs prompted the City Council to increase bus fares. The adult fare will go up to $2, the youth fare will increase to $1 and bus pass prices will rise for everyone in a move designed to raise an additional $6.8 million. The extra money would allow OTS to scrap a plan to cut 100,000 service hours a year.
OTS and the Teamsters held a series of contract negotiating sessions, on Aug. 28, Sept. 3, 4, 8, 10, 19, 22 and 24. Jim Santangelo, a vice president with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, arrived in Honolulu on Sept. 16 and quickly became a visible presence in strike talks.
The previous O'ahu bus strike was in 1971.
