Posted on: Sunday, February 8, 2004
Concrete talks break off as island construction idles
| • | Mel Kahele's tenacity again on display |
By Dan Nakaso and Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writers
Contract negotiations broke off last night between Ameron Hawai'i and representatives of Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 while union employees at Hawaiian Cement set up their own picket lines, shutting down O'ahu's two major concrete companies.
No new talks were scheduled between the Teamsters and Ameron or between the Teamsters and Hawaiian Cement.
Last night's negotiations at the Teamsters' Kalihi headquarters had Ameron and union negotiators sitting in separate rooms for more than three hours, with federal mediator Ken Kawamoto shuttling between the two sides.
The sticking points at both companies are the same — sick leave and employee contributions to their medical benefits.
Without citing specific proposals, George West, Ameron's vice president of operators for O'ahu emerged at 8:30 last night, looking dejected.
"We floated a slightly different approach: If you do this, we do that," West said. "It wasn't well received because we didn't go to what they want... Me personally, I remain hopeful. I'd like to get back to work. But they're not moving toward us."
Michael Chambrella, legal counsel for the Teamsters, stood with about 30 union members behind him and said, "We were hopeful when we came in that we would see movement tonight. The mediator had some new ideas, but actually the company's standing firm on the issues that they have originally. The members cannot accept that. So we're back on the sidewalks for a while.
"We're always hopeful that we're going to get back to work soon," Chambrella said. "I hope the company can look inward and see how much these guys have worked and how hard they work for the company and take that to heart."
With no new negotiations scheduled with either Ameron or Hawaiian Cement, construction projects around the island have been idled.
Ameron employees — 103 of them — left their jobs on Friday. Hawaiian Cement's 67 O'ahu employees walked out and established their Halawa Valley picket line yesterday.
At issue for workers at both companies are healthcare benefits, a topic that has plagued labor negotiations around the country as medical costs rise.
Hawaiian Cement officials and employees said yesterday that an effort by management to institute 20 percent employee co-payments in a company-provided healthcare plan led to a breakdown in talks late Friday night.
"The company has dug its heels in," Teamsters President Mel Kahele said.
Michael Coad, Hawaiian Cement vice president and chief negotiator, said he was willing to return to the table "at any time."
Coad said the company introduced a proposal Friday night that instituted the co-payments. Previously, the company paid the entire cost for employee healthcare.
He spoke to reporters amid mounds of sand and gravel on the company grounds, idle cement trucks parked nearby. A dozen employees walked a picket line outside the gate.
Although Hawaiian Cement is profitable, Coad said, cutting benefits would keep the company competitive in bidding against other companies, including Ameron.
In addition to the $95 co-payment, the company proposes a 30-cent-an-hour pay raise, Coad said.
"That averages about $67 a month, leaving $28 a month for them to pay for family medical, dental, drug and vision," he noted.
Employees work extensive overtime each week, so wages last year averaged $85,000, he said.
"They work hard," Coad added, turning toward the picket line.
"We work seven days a week," said Patrick Quijano, a 60-year-old heavy-equipment operator from Wai'anae. "We hardly see our families, but we want the company to progress. We want them to make money. Last time (the contract was negotiated), we gave back $2 an hour because they said they needed our help.
"And now they do this to us?"
Quijano, who is on the union's bargaining committee, said the union estimated Hawaiian Cement's 2003 profits at $19 million.
He said union counterproposals included giving up some pay increases to avoid a medical co-payment. The union went back to the table twice with counterproposals, he said. Both were rejected.
Reach Dan Nakaso at 525-8085 or at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com. Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
