5-year deal broke stalemate

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Stuck for more than a month with little movement on either side, the negotiators who put together the deal that ended the bus strike say the idea of an unusual, five-year contract with the promise of raises at the back end was one of the keys to breaking the stalemate.

Local Teamsters leader Mel Kahele, left, and union member Lalo Ornelas speak to the media at Kalihi headquarters after the vote. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

OTS chief negotiator Perry Confalone said a key to breaking the logjam was the Teamsters' proposal to accept a contract lasting five years rather than the three-year standard in the public transit industry.

Until Sept. 19, both sides were discussing only three-year proposals. The company spoke of "cost containment" and insisted it could not grant pay raises for three years. The union was firm in seeking 50-cent-an-hour wage increases in the second and third years.

The final proposal called for a wage freeze during the first three years and pay raises of 50 cents and 65 cents, respectively, in the fourth and fifth years of the contract.

By "backloading" the raises, the five-year contract allowed both sides to make concessions without budging too far off their positions. Teamsters members can say that their strike was not in vain and that they won wage increases, while the transit agency and city officials can push raises over the horizon, to a point where they hope the economy will be stronger and raising money will be someone else's problem.

"The culture at the company and with the union has always been (for) three-year terms," said Confalone. The introduction of a five-year deal "did spark some interest as to how we could structure an agreement. And obviously the idea of labor peace for five years was something that both sides wanted to try to achieve."

Confalone said the proposal allowed both sides to claim a measure of victory.

"We would have hoped that negotiations would have produced a win-win situation for both sides without a strike," he said. "But in the end, it did provide a vehicle for giving the union leadership an opportunity to show the members something while producing some significant results for us."

Confalone said the idea for a five-year deal seemed to come from Jim Santangelo, a vice president with the parent International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Santangelo, of California, did not arrive in Honolulu until mid-September, and the Sept. 19 negotiating session where the five-year proposal was made was the first he attended.

Ron Kozuma, secretary-treasurer for the local Teamsters, said it was in fact a brainstorming session of the union bargaining committee that led to the five-year proposal.

He agreed that the five-year approach helped the sides move closer to a settlement.

"I think it was a creative way to getting this thing resolved," he said. "Employees wanted to get back to work, and the public wanted to get public transportation back on line. In that aspect I think it was a win-win."

Kozuma said the rally held by the Teamsters at the state Capitol on Sept. 19 contributed equally to ending the strike, because it showed OTS, the city and the public that TheBus workers were united.

"Leading up to the rally, there was a lot of talk about how the union's split, people aren't supportive," Kozuma said. "I think the rally showed everyone — including OTS and the powers that be, such as the mayor — that the membership was united."

That show of unity forced the company to reassess its position, he said. "From that Friday was actually when we started to see things moving a little. That, if anything, cleared up the logjam, by the company seeing how united the members were. If only 50 people or 200 people showed up at the rally, things would have been ... a lot different."

State Capitol security estimated a crowd at 800, while police put it at 700 to 1,000. The Teamsters represent some 1,300 bus employees who were on strike.

Kozuma said the arrival of the blunt, tough-talking Santangelo also boosted the union's position, because it sent a signal that "we have the resources to do battle with a huge company like OTS," and that the local had the support of the parent organization.

On his first day in Hawai'i, Santangelo said the international had authorized him to give striking workers as much as $500 more a week in strike benefits if they were off the job for weeks or months more.

Lawrence Boyd, a labor economist for the University of Hawai'i's Center for Labor Education and Research, was less quick to pinpoint what cleared the way for a settlement.

"Obviously, both sides moved off of what seemed to be irreconcilable positions," he said. "I just think that at a certain point, (the sides realize) you just can't go forever with this kind of strike, so it has to be settled.

"There was movement on the part of the employer side toward the union's position: There's nothing wrong with a five-year contract, in principle. And there was some motion on the union side."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.