Family was just getting by before strike
| • | Concrete strike grows; construction hobbled |
| • | This time, public is on the sidelines |
By Debbie Sokei
Advertiser Staff Writer
With an unemployed wife and a 16-year-old grandson to support, Jonah Cordeiro put on a stoic face as he walked a picket line in front of Ameron Hawaii on Sand Island yesterday.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Cordeiro is one of 160 Ameron employees who walked off the job yesterday in a dispute over health benefits and sick leave.
Jonah and Debra Cordeiro joined workers on the picket line at the front gate of the Ameron facility off Sand Island Access Road. Jonah supports his wife and grandson on the $700 to $900 he earns each week driving a cement truck.
Before the strike, Cordeiro, 58, a cement truck driver with Ameron for 15 years, was taking home between $700 and $900 a week, depending on overtime. He and his wife had to use half of that to cover their $1,200 rent on a townhouse in Pearl City and a $400 payment on his Toyota Tundra truck.
That left about $1,600 a month for food, gas, utilities and other expenses for the family of three. Often they went into debt to cover their expenses.
Debra Cordeiro, 47, has been unemployed for two years. Her daughter pays her $200 a month to baby-sit their 17-month-old granddaughter, but she uses the money to buy diapers and baby food.
With the strike on, the budget is only going to get tighter.
"I told my wife she has to cut back on spending," Jonah said. "We buy what we need, not what we want."
Reach Debbie Sokei at 525-8064 or dsokei@honoluluadvertiser.com.
