It's nothing close to the frustration that Yagin feels as an unwitting economic victim of O'ahu's 24-day-old concrete strike.

"I tell them they cannot go (to restaurants and video arcades) because daddy doesn't have a job right now," said Yagin, who was laid off as a mason when the strike against O'ahu's two largest concrete companies cut concrete deliveries to construction sites islandwide.

"They cry," Yagin said. "I cannot do anything."

Bills, fears and frustrations are piling up in untold households across O'ahu as all sides settle in for a strike that shows no signs of a quick ending.

Talks broke off Wednesday between Hawaiian Cement and striking members of the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996. No talks have been held between the Teamsters and Ameron Hawaii, O'ahu's other major concrete company, since Feb. 7.

The exact number of jobs lost to the strike is difficult to tabulate because many involve small subcontractors, and state figures are incomplete because many laid-off workers aren't eligible yet to file unemployment claims.

Earlier in the week, however, state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations officials reported that the number of claims — 950 — was up 11 percent from the week before.

Beyond the striking Teamsters, construction workers such as Yagin have been dragged against their wills into the ranks of the unemployed.

Since he was laid off Feb. 5 from Foundations Hawaii Inc., Yagin and his wife have concentrated their spending only on the minimum groceries they need.

"Right now, I have a little money to buy food and that is it," Yagin said. "I just buy what we need. ... My children keep asking me when am I going back to work. It's so sad. They tell me, 'I want you to go back to work daddy.' "

The past nine days away from her job have not been restful for Maureen Shannon, either.

She was laid off as the purchasing and contracts manager for custom homebuilder Homeworks Construction Inc. when concrete deliveries ended.

Even though she understands the economics that led to the company's layoffs, the time away from Homeworks' office on Kapi'olani Boulevard has been stressful for Shannon.

She's proud of being independent and self-sufficient. And she hated the experience of filing an unemployment claim.

"It's not in my character to not be working, to not be doing something meaningful," Shannon said. "It's not a very good feeling being out here, without any work."

Shannon no longer picks up restaurant food for dinner in her Waikiki apartment. She rides her motorcycle instead of driving her car, to conserve on gas. And Shannon asks friends to call her cell phone because the plan offers free incoming calls.

She just received a tax refund of more than $1,000, so money for Shannon isn't as tight as some victims of the concrete strike.

But the frustration of being out of work gnaws at her sensibilities.

"The reason I got a (tax) refund in the first place is because I worked hard and I made money," Shannon said. "Now I'm not working."

Lisa Sarne reminds herself not to watch too much television during the day.

But it's hard to just sit by the phone, waiting for the call from her boss saying it's OK to come back to work, Sarne said.

She was one of the nonmanagement, nonunion workers at Ameron Hawaii who were laid off even though they played no role in the contract negotiations.

But no concrete workers at Ameron means no concrete work. So several Ameron workers, including Sarne, were laid off on Feb. 13.

She now spends a lot more time playing with her 6-year-old pit-bull mix named Paka. Without a salary, though, Sarne no longer buys the chew toys and tug-of-war ropes that Paka loves.

Sarne also focuses more on the cost of groceries and buys them on sale or with coupons. She only makes the minimum monthly payments on her credit card bills.

But the hardest part is not knowing when it will all end, when she can finally get back to her job as a senior credit clerk at Ameron.

"I'm just waiting to get a call from my boss," Sarne said. "I'm just waiting and waiting."

June Pascua hopes to get his first unemployment check any day.

Even then, it'll be less than half of his usual take-home pay of $850 a week. That $850 represented the only source of income for Pascua, his wife, Ligaya, and their three children.

Now, Pascua figures he has just enough savings to cover one more monthly mortgage payment of $1,400 for his home in Waipahu.

Once the mortgage is paid, there will be nothing left for even basic expenses such as utilities.

Pascua is even thinking of pulling his 6-year-old daughter out of after-school care for March, just to cut back wherever he can.

"We could save the $70 for something else," he said, "like food or something."